


Blood is Thicker

by lightning_troubadour



Series: The Hollywood Vampires Saga [2]
Category: Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios
Genre: Vamp '55
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-12
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2018-12-26 19:31:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 23,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12065544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lightning_troubadour/pseuds/lightning_troubadour
Summary: The Hollywood vamps welcome a new edition to their little family





	1. Chapter 1

In an abandoned little shack on a rainy night, nine vampires sat quietly huddled around a radio, and for once they listened to the news instead of a rock and roll station or the top hits. The radio announcer droned on, "An update on the disappearance of Ida Welson: after two months with no leads, no new evidence, and no sightings of the young girl alive, the Orange County Police Department is closing the investigation of her disappearance and the family will be holding a memorial service in her name. The Welson family would like to thank everyone who made the effort to go out and-" Johnny turned off the radio shortly after, cutting off the news announcer's speech. A solemn silence fell over the room, in memory of the little friend they had made and lost. 

Joey "Jacket" Miller, a relative newbie to the vampires' group, broke the silence. "Jeez, I'm really sorry, you guys. I know you've been following this for a long time, the kid must've meant a whole lot to you."

"It's fine," sighed Giovanni, "There was nothing we could have done. We met her a couple weeks before she disappeared, hell, we didn't even know her last name until she went missing."  
"Is it?" Johnny snapped, "Is it really fine? We could've said something to the cops, said that we met her and that she seemed to have a habit of running off, we could've mentioned how fond she was of bikers-"  
"And we could've incriminated ourselves." Giovanni swiftly retorted. "Really think about it, big brother, if you were her folks, wouldn't you be a bit suspicious if a group of shady kids comes out and says they might know something about your kid's disappearance? If you had a daughter, how would you feel if a bunch of teenage boys said she was visiting them late at night? I think I'd be pretty suspicious of us if I were them." He took a deep breath and continued. "Besides, we did our fair share of looking. We checked everywhere that known biker gangs hang around in case she ran off with some bikers, we checked the woodland areas around most of Los Angeles for a body or any shred of evidence we could find, and nothing turned up. It's not our fault she's dead."  
Immediately, Lola piped in, "Hey, we don't know that. She could be alive and maybe even well somewhere, someone might be passing her off as their own daughter. I've heard of people kidnapping babies from hospitals for that reason."  
"But," Johnny said, "Ida is not a baby. Why would someone kidnap a ten year old for something like that?" 

Immediately, the sound of what seemed like footsteps on the roof silenced the conversation, and prompted all nine vampires to look upward. 

After a short period of silence, another relatively new-born vampire named Harry said, "Now what in the hell was that?"  
Scarlet shushed everyone with a finger to her lips, and whispered, "I'll go investigate, you all stay right here." 

Scarlet opened the window, letting the wind and rain into the shack. Rudy quickly put his letterman around her, which enveloped her petite frame. After looking back and nodding in thanks, Scarlet began to climb to the roof. The shingles on the roof were slippery due to the rain, and the wind blew her dark hair into her face, but if there is one trait a vampire has, it's resiliency. She pulled her upper half onto the roof, and soon after the rest of her followed suit. She then pulled the hair away from her eyes and quickly noticed a familiar tiny frame curled up on the roof, now emaciated and much paler than she was. With a mix of shock, horror, and an overwhelming gratitude to whatever divinity protected the child, she let out a banshee-like scream and rushed to Ida's side, her tears of joy mixing with the rain around her. The others, upon hearing her scream, ran outside to make sure their fearless cheerleader was alright, only to find her clutching tightly to the girl they presumed dead, gently stroking her hair and sobbing. As Scarlet looked down on the young girl's face, she began mumbling unintelligibly, and she noticed the new presence of two little fangs in her tiny mouth. The look of relief on Scarlet's face quickly turned to horror as she realized what had truly become of the child. She scooped up the young girl in her arms and jumped down from the roof, as the crowd of vampires quickly swarmed around her. 

Johnny pushed himself to the front of the group, looking down at the pale child that barely breathed in Scarlet's arms. "I don't understand," he uttered in shock, "how is she alive?"  
Scarlet looked up at him and said after a sniffle, "She's only as alive as we are, now." 

Clifford covered his mouth in shock at her implication, and Lola clung to his arm for support. Jacket and Harry looked at each other wide-eyed, as if to ask themselves what the hell they had just gotten themselves into. Giovanni smiled a crooked smile, though his eyes spoke of the shock he felt. Rudy and Cass kept their eyes on the ground, with Cass biting his lip to keep from saying anything rash. 

Scarlet began to walk into the shack with the young vampire in her arms, as Johnny followed, turning to his friends and saying, "She's weak. She needs blood, now."


	2. Chapter 2

Rudy and Cass quickly cleared off a table in the shack, and Scarlet immediately placed Ida on it to examine her more closely. "Shit," she muttered, looking down at the girl, "Ida, what did you do?" 

Johnny scoured through the cabinets in the shack to find something with blood in it to give to the girl, but they hadn't hunted in a while. "We've got nothing! Someone needs to go out there and get her some blood, immediately." He looked around the room with panic in his eyes, as if calculating how much longer the girl could survive without blood.  
"Wait!" Harry cried out, "Remember how I told you I was coming up with a special recipe at the ice cream parlor?"  
Hesitantly, Johnny replied, "Yeah... You actually finished it?"   
"Yeah! I've got some back at my house, it shouldn't take more than 20 minutes to get there and back." Harry reassured, "If we floor it, of course." Harry grabbed the keys to his car, and Giovanni quickly tagged along to help Harry. 

"Wait, what did Harry mean back there?" Clifford asked, turning to Johnny.  
"Oh, he was planning on surprising us with blood ice cream so we could come to his work to hang out without looking conspicuous, since he was so grateful that we took him in after his turning and helped him get used to life again," Johnny explained, "but, this seems like a much better use for it now."   
"Works for me." Clifford said, exasperated and anxious over the life of the young girl. 

Just then, Ida turned her head and tried to mumble something out, and the vampires rushed to her side. Johnny quickly grabbed her hand and said to her, "It's okay, kid, we're gonna get you better real soon." 

Scarlet turned on her heels and walked into the shack's small bathroom, slamming the door and locking it behind her as the tears she was trying to hold back flooded forth in a mix of anger, confusion, and happiness. Just a few minutes before, she was feeling immense guilt over a death she felt she could have prevented, and though she was so grateful that Ida wasn't dead after all, the fact that she was now undead made Scarlet want to scream. She knew that Ida's new state meant one of two things had happened: either a vampire had attacked her against her will while she was missing, and may have even been the reason she went missing; or what she considered the worse option of the two, that Ida had wanted to become a vampire. Scarlet asked herself, "Doesn't she know what the hell she just did?" The poor thing, she thought, she's gonna be thirty and still be in a child's body, she'll never age, she'll never be able to do all the things teenagers and adults do, even when she's more than ready to do it. She's doomed, she thought, absolutely doomed.   
Jacket knocked on the bathroom door nervously, worried that Scarlet might just show him one of her notorious jump attacks the guys all talk about in their hunting stories. "Hey, Scarlet? You alright in there?" he asked.  
The petite vampire quickly wiped her tears, wiping off a bit of her mascara onto her sleeve. "Yeah, Joey, come on in."  
He hesitated for a second before turning the handle to find Scarlet seated on the floor, cradling her knees with it being very obvious that she had been crying. "You know," he said, "you can call me Jacket. That's what everyone calls me."   
"Yeah, I know, you've just always been more of a Joey to me. And that's just what the band kids call you, you're more than that now," she sighed. 

There was silence for fifteen seconds that felt like fifteen minutes, until Jacket broke the silence. "Johnny and Harry should be back soon."  
"I hope so," she said, muffled by the sleeve of her red sweater, "I just can't believe it."   
"We'll figure something out," Jacket said reassuringly, "And if not, I mean, winging it is kind of our thing, right?" He tried to smile, but the look of concern in his eyes made it all the more obvious that his smile was fake. 

Suddenly, they heard the tires of Harry's car screech into the shoddily paved excuse for a driveway, and immediately turned towards the source of the noise. Scarlet bolted up almost instantly and ran toward the door, her cheeks still stained red from crying. Giovanni had thrown his leather jacket over Ida like a blanket, and Lola was sitting in a chair right next to the half-truly dead little vampire. Rudy and Cass stood just behind Scarlet as the three of them ran out the door into the rain to help Harry and Johnny unload their cargo. Just as quickly as they had left the shack, they had returned with a small cooler full of ice and a metal tub full of an obnoxious cherry red substance that could almost pass for real ice cream, had the shack's inhabitants not been able to smell the blood from the moment the car pulled near. The youngest inhabitant of the shack could smell it too, and much to the relief of all, Ida's eyes fluttered open and she shakily moved her right arm out as if trying to grab the ice cream for herself. Lola immediately helped the girl sit up as Harry grabbed a nearby bowl and scooped out a bit of the blood-filled concoction for her with the scooper that Johnny had almost forgotten to grab in the rush to not get caught or set off any alarms.

Scarlet bit her nails in worry about the child. Clifford stood by Lola's side, silently panicking as she handed the bowl and a spoon to the young girl and softly said, "Ida, think you can do it on your own?"  
Before she could even finish her question, Ida began devouring the ice cream with an almost animalistic fervor, the mere scent of blood seeming to be enough incentive for her system to give her an explosive amount of energy. Lola sighed in relief, she was eating, she would be okay after all. 

Ida looked up at Harry and murmured, "Mister, can I have another bowl?"   
Harry smiled back at the new vampire and said, "Sure thing, sweetheart, and my name's Harry. Just call me that," before taking the bowl from her hands, adding more ice cream to the bowl, and giving it back to the starving young vampire. 

As she ate, Ida's vision became less blurry and the intense fog started to clear from her mind, and she began to recognize the faces of some of those standing in the shack with her. "Lola! Clifford! What are you guys doing here?" she gasped, and added, "Carl? Randy? Is the whole gang here?"   
At which point the vampires started to giggle at her mistake, as Clifford stepped out from behind his sister and reassured, "Yeah, we're all here, kiddo. And, over there," he said, pointing at Rudy and Cass, "you were close, but they're Cass and Rudy."   
"Oh," Ida mused, "My bad." She then turned her head just a bit more and finally noticed Scarlet, who stopped biting her nails so her face was now fully visible. "Scarlet!" she squealed, as she jumped down from the table and made a weak attempt to run toward her friend, only to be caught in her arms as she nearly fell over. Ida feebly threw her arms around Scarlet's neck and smiled, "I missed you so much! I thought I'd never see you again!"   
Scarlet beamed back, and pulling the child in tighter for a hug, said, "I thought so too." She scooped up Ida in her arms and carried her to a nearby chair to sit in, and upon placing her down gently admonished her, "You're still a bit too weak to be running around right now, you need to get your strength up. Ida, I'm so happy you're okay." 

Johnny approached the chair, smiling with relief that the girl was not only alive..ish.. but also conscious and able to now make coherent sentences. "Hi Ida," he said, "Remember me?"   
Ida's face lit up at the sight of her friend, as she pulled him in by the arm with her newfound strength for a hug. "Oh, thank goodness you're here, Johnny, I missed you a lot too," after releasing him from the embrace, she added, "Gosh, and I thought the camping trip was the best night of my life!"   
"It's a pretty good night for us too." Johnny replied. "Now, Ida," he asked, "Do you know what happened to you?"  
She nodded, then stopped for a second. "Well," she chirped, "I mean I know I'm a vampire now, at least I think I am, it sure seems like it..."   
"Yes, it seems that way," Johnny probed, "but do you know how you became one?"   
She tilted her head to the side a bit, then shook it back and forth. "I can't remember too much, really."  
Scarlet and Johnny looked at each other with bits of concern and relief, concern that there's another coven of vampires in California that has no problem with attacking children, but relief that if it was something awful, that at least it isn't causing her any trouble now. If she did remember, they would take care of that when it happened.   
"So, do you guys have a phone? I need to call my mom and dad and let them know I'm okay." Ida asked. 

Lola decided to take one for the team on this one, and approached the chair, shooing Johnny and Scarlet back. "Well, you see, sweetheart, that's the problem. You're a vampire now. You can't really live with humans anymore. At least, you can't right now."   
"What?" tears began to well up in her eyes as she blubbered out, "What do you mean?"   
Lola reached for her hand and said, "Ida, you nearly destroyed the bowl with the ice cream in it, you could barely control yourself. If you don't know how to control yourself around blood, you could end up hurting your mom and dad. And besides, they're humans, they can't teach you how to hunt, or ways to keep the sunlight from entering your room, or really a lot of very important things that come with being a vampire." She couldn't bear to tell the girl that her parents had given up on her, and were already holding her funeral. In reality, she wasn't even sure if Ida could ever go back. What would the Welsons do if a few years down the road Ida hasn't physically changed at all?  
Ida began to wipe away tears with her free hand. "Does this mean I can live with you guys now?"   
"Yes, sweetie, of course," Lola comforted. "We'll help you every step of the way, until you think you're ready to go back to the human world. If you even want to; we don't mind if you stay with us."   
Ida tilted her head and said, "You sure you don't mind?"  
"Of course we don't, Ida," Clifford piped in. "Welcome to the family."


	3. Chapter 3

The weekend left as quickly as it arrived, and Monday morning had taken its place as though it were a gatekeeper to the next week ahead. Many of the young vampires still lived at home with their families, doing their best to conceal their horrific secret from their parents and siblings. Clifford and Lola, however, took refuge in the worn-down shack the group called a second home, since they had nowhere else to go, and no other family to call on. With them stayed Ida, for whom they made a makeshift shelter from the sun by emptying out a small closet for her to sleep in, and laying it horizontally so she wouldn’t fall out. The two siblings had figured out little ways over the years to keep themselves safe from the sun’s deadly rays, but their age was what gave them a bit more of an upper hand over their friends. 

Like most high school students, they were awake just before the sun rose, Ida still sleeping in her makeshift coffin. The two spoke quietly among themselves, trying not to wake the sleeping vampire child.  
“What are we gonna do with Ida while we’re at school?” Lola asked her brother, just barely above a whisper.   
“Maybe she’ll sleep through today, the poor kid needs her sleep after what she’s been through,” Clifford whispered in reply.   
“Did we sleep fully through the days when we first turned?” Lola questioned, remembering the long, tough days of adjustment after she and her brother were turned barely three decades ago.   
Clifford remained silent while putting on his sunglasses and hat to prepare for the day ahead, also remembering those events for himself. He quickly shook his head, as if trying to physically shake away the memories, and grabbed his backpack and the keys to his motorcycle. 

Just then, as he turned to grab the doorknob and leave the shack, exposing himself and his sister to the uncomfortable heat of the early morning sun, he heard a feebly yawn from inside the closet and heard the door creak open.   
“Hey, guys,” the young vampire began, “Where’re ya goin’?”  
“Oh, hey!” Lola immediately piped up, doing her best to sound cheery even though she was about twenty minutes away from entering the high school she detested going to, since she and her brother had taken twenty years to send themselves back to school after becoming vampires. “It’s Monday, Ida, we have to go to school.”   
“You still go to school? Wow!” Ida laughed, then paused, her eyes sparkling with interest. “Can I come too? I wanna meet your friends!”  
Clifford and Lola looked at one another, mouths agape with shock and panic at what their young companion had just said.   
“Erm…” Clifford began, “Just...give us a second, okay?”   
Ida nodded patiently in reply, with a hopeful look in her wide blue eyes.   
Lola immediately pulled her brother into an adjacent room in the shack which she had more or less claimed as her own. “Cliff,” she began to growl quietly, “There is no way in hell we can take her to school with us. We’ll be arrested almost immediately for harboring her, and they wouldn’t even let the poor thing into the building! Not to mention all the fresh blood around her! She’ll go berserk! She mig-”   
“I know,” Clifford interrupted. “Believe me Lola, I know. Look, maybe we should adjust her to humans a bit earlier. Of course, nowhere where she can be seen by anyone. I have an idea, I just need you to trust me.”   
“So how is she gonna meet our friends?” Lola asked, arms crossed in front of her.   
“She basically has, we have like, what, 2 human friends total?” Clifford replied. “Why don’t we hold a little get-together with Krystal and Donna? If she does go all bloodthirsty, we’ll hold her back, get those two out, and make sure she gets something to eat. Deal?”   
Lola sighed, shaking her head a bit, and said, “Well, alright. Besides, they’ve been around newborns before, they should be able to handle her.” 

They then exited the room, and Clifford approached Ida. “Hey, thanks for waiting there,” he said, “we wish we could bring you to school with us, but there wouldn’t be anything for you to do there. All the classes are too hard, the lunch is too gross, most of the kids are jerks, you just wouldn’t have any fun. We don’t even have fun there!”  
Ida pouted. “Aw, phooey.Well, if I can’t come to school with you guys, how am I gonna meet your friends?” she asked, disheartened at the fact that she did not get to see what a high school was like.  
“We’ll bring them here!” Clifford beamed. “Besides, you already know most of our friends, since most of them are other vampires. But our human friends are really great, I think you’ll really like them!”   
“Really? Oh boy! I can’t wait!” Ida cheered in excitement.  
“You should probably get back to bed, Ida,” Lola said, “You need your rest. It’s not good for young vampires to be awake too much in the daytime.”   
“Then why do you go to school in the daytime?” she asked, her voice at an intersection of genuine curiosity and sarcasm.   
“Because no one’s made a high school that has classes at night,” Clifford begrudgingly said. “Now seriously, get some sleep. We’ll be right here when you wake up.”   
“Okay, good night! Good morning.. Wait, gimme a second, I can figure this out,” Ida rambled, as she slipped back into her closet-coffin. 

 

A morning full of tough classes, even tougher teachers, and kids who thought they were tough even though they hadn’t seen a days’ worth of hardship gave way to lunchtime, where the group of vampires sat at their own small lunch table, none of them eating.   
“This Friday night?” Scarlet asked, “I don’t know, I was thinking of taking Donna to the movies to see Around the World in 80 Days after the football game, they say it’s supposed to be really good.”  
Clifford smirked and replied, “Well, why don’t we have it on Saturday then? I mean, no football games, no one has any plans,” he stopped and looked around the group, “I mean, you guys aren’t busy Saturday night, are you?”   
This was met with a barrage of heads shaking and mumbled denials, until Harry piped in, “I mean, I have work, but that’s only till eight. I can sneak back out of my house after work and come home a little later, my folks’ll never notice.”   
“Yeah,” Lola agreed, “And on Friday you can tell Donna so she doesn’t freak out when-’  
“So I don’t freak out when what?” said Donna, who had snuck up behind the group while they were talking. “Scar, is everything okay? Is something wrong? Sugar, what do you need to tell me about?”   
“Sweetie, it’s nothing major, I promise, but I can’t tell you while we’re here, okay? I’ll explain it all later, I promise it’s nothing bad. Well, it might be kind of bad, but it isn’t about,” she stopped, looking around to make sure no one else besides her friends could hear her say, “us.”  
Donna nodded, with a particularly panicked look in her eyes, the kind that says “Dear God, what have my girlfriend and her friends done now,” yet she knew that Scarlet would tell her in time. “Okay,” she fretted, “Call me tonight and tell me. I promise that whatever it is, I won’t freak out.”   
“I will,” Scarlet pledged, as she pulled her girlfriend in for a hug, the closest they could get to physical affection while in public. As long as everyone thought they were just very close best friends, she was more than happy to play the part. The two went their separate ways, and the vampires continued their plans for the weekend ahead. 

Though it seemed to take an eternity, Friday finally arrived. The group of youths could be seen in an alleyway not far from the school, shielding themselves from the mid-afternoon sun.   
“So, Donna knows now? And she didn’t freak out?” Johnny asked.  
“Well, she knows, but she did freak out a bit,” Scarlet admitted, “Not enough for her parents to notice or hear what she was saying though. She promised not to tell anyone since we had nothing to do with Ida’s disappearance, and that she knew we were keeping her for everyone’s own good.”   
“Thank god,” Rudy said, “And how did Krystal react?”   
Scarlet stopped, her pale skin seeming to get even paler. _Oh my god, I forgot to tell Krystal,_ she thought, but since fate was feeling particularly kind that day, the blonde in question was walking out of the building at the time.   
“Hey Krystal! I need to talk to you about something!” she exclaimed, running toward her friend.   
“Oh, hey Scarlet, what’s so urgent that-” Krystal began, as Scarlet cut her off by pulling her by the arm into the alleyway with the rest of the vampires. “Oh good grief, it’s you guys. Listen, what’s going on here? If it’s about homecoming last year, I’ve told you a million times, no one ever found out that there was a plan, and no one was able to catch more than a glimpse of you guys.”   
“Krystal, it’s not about that,” Giovanni piped in, and gestured to the ground, “You might want to sit down for this.”   
“I don’t care what it is,” Krystal griped, “I am not ruining my new skirt over it.”   
“Alright, fair enough,” Giovanni admonished, “Just don’t say we didn’t warn you, okay?” After a deep sigh, he continued, “You remember that kid that went missing this past summer? A little girl?”   
Krystal’s eyes grew wide with shock, then grew cold with anger as she grabbed Giovanni by the collar of his t-shirt and said, “You didn’t.”   
“No, no,” Giovanni began, his inhuman strength being the only thing that allowed him to pull away from the mayor’s daughter’s notoriously tight grip, “we wouldn’t. She’s fine, for the most part. We found her, but she’s...well,” he trailed off, as Johnny picked up in his place, “We don’t know who did it, but she’s...no longer mortal. She was turned into a vampire, Krystal. Believe me, not by any of us, but by someone. She can’t remember any of it, so we don’t know who to go after, and trust me, we will, but as soon a-”   
“Unbelievable,” Krystal scolded, “Just, unbelievable. You mean to tell me that you’re not only harboring a missing child, whose family thinks she’s dead, but because she’s a blood-sucker like you guys that she can’t go home?! Have you lost your minds?”   
Clifford quickly covered her mouth with his hand as she began kicking him in the shins, surprisingly hard for a girl of her size, and hissed, “If we could let her go home, we would. It would make all of our lives a lot easier if she was home safe with her parents, but there’s a lot of bumps in that road.”   
Krystal, after wriggling out of Clifford’s grip, snapped, “Like what?”  
With a roll of his eyes, Clifford methodically listed off the struggles of a newborn vampire as if he were a doctor reading off side effects of a medication for the fiftieth time: “Extreme thirst for blood, very low sunlight tolerance, nocturnalism, her parents will start to notice that she doesn’t age, oh, and if we send her home, no one will teach her how to hunt for blood without getting caught or fashion her room in a way that doesn’t let sunlight in, so she would either end up killing the nearest people to her, most likely her parents, then, if not immediately imprisoned she would probably burn to death in the sun. Not a good way to go, princess.”  
With an angry stomp of her foot, Krystal retorted, “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t go to the police right now and turn you in.”   
Scarlet almost instinctively coughed out a reply of “Homecoming.”

“Listen,” Johnny began as calmly as he could, “She needs someone to help her down the road, and we’re the only ones who can do it. You don’t have to meet her if you don’t want to, but if you do, I promise you’ll understand why we all care about her so much. She really is a good kid, and even with the bad situation she’s been stuck in, she deserves the best life possible, so we’re gonna help her make the best of it.”  
“Alright, fine. I’ll come and meet your little...vampireling,” Krystal huffed, “Wait, you said she’s bloodthirsty, how do you know she’s not gonna bite me or something?”   
“Because we’ll all be there to hold her back,” Giovanni said. “And she should know better, we’ll have blood ready for her so she doesn’t hurt anyone.”   
“Promise?” she asked.  
“Cross my heart, hope to die,” Rudy affirmed.  
“Alright,” Krystal said, as she turned around and started to walk out of the alley. “See you weirdos tomorrow night!”  
Once she was out of earshot, Harry leaned over to Clifford and asked, “So, why do you guys hang out with her again?” 

 

After a winning football game, a lovely date at the movies, and a lot of preparation, Saturday turned to night, as Lola lectured Ida while brushing her dark brown hair for the party to come.   
“Now, Ida, I know you’re going to smell their blood, and you’re going to get really, really hungry, but you cannot give into it, okay? We have spare blood all ready for you, and us too, of course. They want to be your friend, they aren’t food.”   
“But what about that homeless guy?” Ida remarked. “He seemed kind of ni-”   
“Well,” Lola interrupted, “He was food. You’ll learn to make that distinction the older you get.” 

Just then, there was a knock on the door, and Scarlet entered, with Donna in tow.  
“Hey guys!” Scarlet beamed, “Where’s Ida?”  
The young vampire, almost instinctively, ran towards her makeshift sister and jumped into her arms, shouting “Scarlet! You’re here,” while embracing the older girl. After she let go, she turned and looked at the black-haired, blue eyed girl next to her, and said, “Wow, is this Anna?”   
“Donna,” Donna corrected, “It’s very nice to meet you.”  
“Woah,” Ida chirped, “She’s even prettier than you said she was!”  
Donna’s cheeks flushed red as she turned toward Scarlet with mouth agape.  
At that moment, Rudy and Cass showed up, alongside Harry and Jacket Miller, who were arguing over which of them Miss Behave was glaring at in class.   
“For the last time, Miller,” Harry said, “I’m doing great in her class, she has no reason to be mad at me. Now, you, on the other hand, would rather be marching in the band than studying.”   
“Oh, please,” Jacket replied, “I hustle my butt off to get good grades so I can march, but since you have no hobbies outside of your work and your little comic books, you wouldn’t know too much about dedication, would you?”   
“Hey!” Clifford shouted, “Enough is enough, guys! Let’s have some fun while we’re here!” 

Johnny and Giovanni soon arrived, not on their motorcycles, but rather, in Krystal’s car. The vampires inside the shack could hear them bickering outside over the difficulty of finding the building, and how Krystal seemed to be driving with the intention to kill them. As the door opened, Lola held Ida’s hand tightly to make sure she didn’t try anything, because as bitter as Krystal’s personality was, no vampire could deny how sweet her blood smelled.   
“Oh my god,” Krystal began, “You weren’t joking about the Welson girl.”   
All Ida could do was stare. She remembered Scarlet’s warning about Krystal, that she was only nice once you got to know her. Plus, of all things that could have happened, she couldn’t remember her name. After a few seconds of thinking, she regained her ability to speak. “Hi, Babs!”  
A silence fell over the room when the other vampires heard their youngest member do the one thing no one should ever do, vampire or not: dare to mistake Krystal Caroline Knaresborough for someone else.   
“Excuse me?” Krystal shrilled in reply to the young girl, before Scarlet rushed to her side and whispered a reminder in her ear about how a newborn vampire is not someone you want to frighten. At this, Krystal whipped her head to look at the cheerleader with a glare so pointed it could have staked her through the heart, which was met by a sincerely worried look and a shake of the head back and forth as Scarlet mouthed “It’s not worth it.”   
Krystal sharply inhaled and sighed once, trying to control her anger at the youngest vampire, armed with memories of how destructive a newly turned vampire could be. She crouched down to meet Ida’s eye level, and beckoned the girl over to her. Ida came over, much to the other vampires’ worry, as Krystal pulled her in by the shoulders and said, “Krystal. My name’s Krystal. You’re Ida, right?”   
“U-uh huh! I’m sorry about the name mishap! I just knew a Babs and I couldn’t remember your name, so I improvised!” Ida flashed a worried smile.  
“It’s..” Krystal sighed, then continued, “It’s okay, kid. Just don’t do it again.” She took the girl by the hand as she slowly stood up, and said, “So, are we just gonna stand here and gawk at each other, or are we gonna have a party?” 

The other vampires shook off their former tension at the fact that Ida was as safe with Krystal as the latter was with the former, and Clifford went to his small “bedroom” to grab some of his records. Cass and Rudy gave each other a low high five in relief that Ida wasn’t chewed out, and Scarlet and Donna both laughed with the same emotion. 

Soon, the music played loudly, with wailing guitars and dance-inducing beats, and barely anyone could keep still. The vampires drank pre-hunted blood that they kept in a container simply marked “Don’t Touch”, and Scarlet had made sure to buy sodas earlier for the two human girls to drink, and Donna’s mother had made some small snacks for the party, little did she know that the majority of those in attendance didn’t need to eat. Scarlet and Donna danced, doing their best to keep a societally acceptable distance from one another so Krystal didn’t find out about the true feelings between them. Giovanni was playing an overly intense game of Three Man Rock Paper Scissors with Cass and Rudy, and though they were all far too interested in it for anyone over the age of nine, none of them were going to back down now. Ida twirled and skipped around to the music, having the time of her young life as Johnny leaned against the wall, watching like a proud older brother. Krystal, however, was sitting in a chair, watching everyone have fun while drinking a bottle of soda. Clifford soon approached.   
“Hey,” he said, concerned that she wasn’t having fun or that she was still mad over Ida calling her the wrong name. As funny as the latter would be, he didn’t discount it as an option when it came to her. “You look lonely over here. Wanna dance a bit?” He extended his hand out to her.   
“Gee, now why are you deciding to be a gentleman all of a sudden?” Krystal scoffed.  
“Well, it’s my place, might as well try to be a good host. Come on, don’t make me beg,” Clifford said, doing his best puppy dog eyes to convince her.   
With a snicker, she consented, and took his hand as he lead her out to the makeshift dance floor. They were instantly joined by Ida. “Hey Clifford and… Krystal! Can I dance too?” Ida felt like she pulled a sword out of a stone for remembering Krystal’s name that time.  
For once, Krystal felt a smile spread across her face due to something that wasn’t the downfall of her enemies or her own success. “Sure thing, sugarplum!” she exclaimed, as she took Ida by her two hands and began twirling and whirling with the young girl. She wanted to be mad, she never was a fan of kids; hell, nine times out of ten she would have just went to the cops about what had happened, but upon meeting the not-so-missing Welson girl herself, she couldn’t help but actually like her a bit. After all, Krystal saw this as more opportunity than not, maybe she could teach young Ida Welson not to take after the reckless, troublemaking vampires she had shacked up with, and more after herself: a proper young lady, who commanded respect and dignity wherever she went.   
Clifford stood aghast at the interception; not only had Krystal come out on the dance floor, but she was dancing with the young vampire who had just offended her honor by calling her the wrong name a few minutes beforehand! He wanted to ask Scarlet if she had slipped some magic potion into Krystal’s drink to make her act with an emotion other than general haughty contempt, because it seemed that only witchcraft could melt the mayor’s daughter’s heart. 

Johnny and Lola tried not to giggle at the sight of Hollywood High’s resident ice queen opening up her heart to a child, and actually letting a bit loose and seeming to enjoy something, but they were happy to see that she seemed to be changing, even just a bit, even if there’s a good chance of it being a ruse to hide some ulterior motive. They knew, though, that no one would believe this for a second if they ever told anyone. 

The two dancing girls joined Scarlet and Donna, and formed a little circle of their own as they all spun and laughed and swayed to the music. Ida saw Lola over near the wall, and ran over to her to pull her into the circle.   
“Come on,” she chirped, “Come dance with us!”   
Lola soon joined in as well, and the five girls seemed to have their own separate party going. After a few minutes of watching the revelry, Clifford decided to join in too, and dramatically cheered, “Don’t leave me out, sisters!”   
This got a laugh out of Lola, as well as Krystal and Scarlet. Donna soon turned toward Johnny and said, “Oh, don’t pretend you’re too cool to dance with us.”  
That was all the convincing he needed as he joined the circle too, along with Harry. Jacket was occupying himself by looking for the next record to play, while Giovanni, Rudy, and Cass maintained firmly locked in their own special form of warfare. As Donna’s curfew drew near, Scarlet walked her out the door and snuck a quick kiss to her cheek before Donna got into her car and drove home. Soon it was time for Krystal to do the same, and she had offered to drive Johnny and Giovanni home, which they declined, since their parents didn’t really seem to notice their being gone anyway. Slowly but surely, guests began to trickle out, and by the approach of morning, the only people left in the shack were the two pairs of siblings and the young girl.   
“This isn’t over!” Giovanni shouted at Rudy’s car as it drove away  
Cass stuck his head out of the passenger side window to retort, “Yeah, you’ll wish it was when I’m crowned the king of Rock Paper Scissors!” Jacket’s hand was then seen pulling Cass through the window, and a muffled “Sit down!” could be heard from Harry.  
Ida leaned over to Lola and whispered, “Why are boys so weird?” to which she could only shrug, all the while stifling laughter.

“So, how’d you like your first party?” Clifford asked Ida.   
“This was the best night ever!” She exclaimed, “Even better than the night I first met you guys!” With this, she then gave him a hug, and said, “Thank you so much for having this!”   
“Don’t worry about it, kid,” he replied, then he began to look around at the shack. “As long as you help me clean up tomorrow night.”   
Ida nodded vigorously in reply, then yawned. “So, where are Johnny and Gio gonna sleep?”

Clifford shrugged, and said, “Well, guess you guys are stuck with me today. Lola’s not gonna let either of you sleep in her room.”   
Lola nodded in agreement with this and said, “Not a chance.” 

The three male vampires entered Clifford’s room, which he had sun-proofed before, as Lola entered hers, before poking her head out of her doorway and saying, “Hey, Ida, you good to sleep in your coffin?”   
Ida looked over at her and then replied, “Well, can I stay in your room tonight? It’ll be like a sleepover!”   
“Sure thing!” Lola exclaimed, as the youngest vampire bolted into her room to sleep the day through. She knew that cleaning up tomorrow night would take more than a while, with rearranging furniture and picking up what bits of garbage the other guests forgot to pick up, but that could wait: to her, all that mattered what a good day’s sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

A week had passed since the vampires’ most recent get-together with friends, and as the fall weather set and temperatures began to cool, and preparations for Halloween began. The teenage vampires didn’t really partake in Halloween festivities much anymore for varying reasons: too busy of a schedule, being deemed “too old” by parents and neighbors to trick or treat yet not being deemed responsible enough to hold or attend a Halloween party full of their own peers, personal designation of being “over it”, each one had their own degree of fondness, or lack thereof, for the holiday. Young Ida, however, was at the ripe, albeit permanent age of ten years old, still in prime range to trick or treat. Of course, there was one minor issue with her hopes: her face could still be found on missing posters and milk cartons across the major Los Angeles area, so anyone who saw her at their doorstep would immediately know that something was very, very wrong.

“But guys, come on!” Ida cried out, “What’s the worst that can happen?”   
“Someone could see you, Ida, and call the police. Or worse,” Lola replied.  
“It’s Halloween, though,” said Ida sadly, “Isn’t there any way I can go out and have them not see me?”   
It was at this moment Lola had an epiphany, and blurted out, “No, but if you didn’t look like you on Halloween night, we might be able to pull this off. You stay here, I’ll be right back,” she added before leaving the makeshift living room she, Clifford, and Ida shared in the shack they called home to enter her own bedroom. 

After about a minute, she came back with a fine-tip paintbrush and a palette of neutral toned eyeshadows. “Alright, Ida,” Lola said, dipping the brush into a brown eyeshadow, “I need you to hold still for me.” She began making little brown dots all over Ida’s cheeks and nose, drawing some up onto her forehead as an imitation of freckles. She stopped for a second, analyzing her work before running back into her room and grabbing a small handheld mirror and handing it to the young vampire and saying, “Here, have a look. Not too bad, huh?”

Ida blinked. “I don’t see any difference.” Her eyes suddenly widened in realization. “Oh yeah! I’m a vampire! Boy, do I look alive!” She admired herself for a moment before asking, “Is this a magic mirror or something? I thought vampires had no reflections… Or do I still have a reflection because I’ve only recently became a vampire?”  
At this, Lola chuckled, “Ida, all that ‘no reflection’ crap is just in the movies. Of course we can see ourselves in mirrors, how would being a vampire make us somehow invisible? Besides, if we couldn’t see ourselves in mirrors, then why would Clifford spend so much time doing his hair every morning for school?”  
This made them both laugh as Clifford himself walked in the front door of the shack and asked, “Aw man, what’d I miss?”   
“Oh, nothing,” Lola snickered, “Did hunting go well?”   
“Yeah. Actually, I found a guy just for the three of us; broke his neck real easy so all the blood’s still in there. I’ve got him in the trunk of Johnny’s car, wanna come help me get him out?”   
Lola stood up and nodded in response, walking away from a wide-eyed Ida. She knew that vampires needed blood to survive, and that even though death of the victim could be avoided, feeding three vampires basically required someone to die. Yet, even though drinking blood was a fact of her life, it was still so hard for her to get used to the fact that people had to die for her to eat.   
As Clifford, Lola, and Johnny carried the corpse down to the basement where it would be easier to hide later, Ida watched in shock. She knew she should be used to the idea that the blood she drinks had to come from somewhere at this point, but it would always be tough for her to wrap her head around the idea. 

As Johnny came up the stairs to say a quick hello to Ida, he stopped in front of her and said, “Huh, you look different.”  
“Yeah, doesn’t she?” Lola piped in from behind him. “We’re trying to disguise her so she can go out for Halloween this year. What do you think?”   
Johnny’s eyes widened as he ran back down to the basement, shouting, “Hang on, I think I’ve got something!” He came back up with a pair of glasses in hand, albeit one of the lenses was broken. “Here, Ida, put these on,” he said, handing her the glasses. 

As Ida put the glasses on, she looked around. “It’s hard to see in these. How about I wear my hair down? I’ve never worn my hair down in public!” She undid her hair, letting it fall into curly locks. “How’s this?”  
Johnny and Lola looked at one another, then at Ida. The way her hair fell when it was down framed her face differently than when it was pulled up, and adding that to the freckles on her face, as well as potentially removing the glass lenses from the glasses themselves, Ida could look like a completely different person. “I think,” Lola beamed, “you look great.” 

Over the next two nights, Lola, Johnny, Clifford, and Scarlet worked on various disguise plans for Ida. The mainstays they determined were the now-lensless glasses, the drawn on freckles, and Ida wearing her hair down. Of course, this so called new girl needed a name, which they spent the second night thinking of.  
“What about Mary?” Clifford suggested. “Maybe Joan?”   
“Carol could work, or maybe Cindy. What about Barbara?” Scarlet said. “I used to know a Barbara, but she moved away.”   
“I dunno if I want a new name. I don’t really want to change much.” Ida took off her glasses. “Besides, I don’t wanna live a double life.” Ida was silent for a second before she piped, “How about I’m referred to as Daisy around people who we don’t know? Or just plain Idaline?”  
“Daisy, huh?” Johnny pondered. “Yeah, I think I like that!”  
“Really?” Ida chirped.  
“Yeah,” Scarlet added, “I think it suits you.”   
“Hey, ‘Daisy’,” Clifford said, playfully elbowing Ida in the ribs, “How about we go out tonight and test your disguise?”   
“Where to?” Lola asked. The night was still young but she wasn’t sure how many places would be open. “Oh, I know!” she said, a few seconds later, “What about the ice cream parlor?” 

Lola didn’t have to say the words ice cream twice for Ida to be interested, and away they went, piling into Johnny’s car and driving off. 

When they got to the ice cream parlor, Clifford pulled Harry aside and said, “Hey, don’t let anyone know you know Ida. We’re helping her disguise herself so she can go outside more. Deal?”   
“Yeah man, deal,” Harry nodded, happy to help his fellow vampire, and happier to help the littlest one of the group. 

Just as the vampires were sitting down, they heard a cheery voice call out “Scarlet? Hey Scarlet, is that you?”   
They turned to the source of the voice to find a petite, cherublike blonde before them, Betty Sue Carson. Betty was Ida’s older cousin on her mother’s side, who, ironically enough, had also been turned into a vampire at the homecoming parade by Johnny. However, even after her turning, she was still known at school for her fiery, independent spirit, and glittering smile.  
Scarlet got up to greet her with a hug, and she invited her to come sit with them. “Of course, you know Johnny,” she said, feeling the awkwardness between the two for herself, “and this is Lola, her brother Clifford, and my…” she hesitated for a split second on Ida, “cousin, Daisy! She’s just recently moved here from San Francisco with my aunt and uncle, and I thought I’d treat her to some ice cream!”  
“Aww,” Betty cooed, “how wonderful!” She then turned to Scarlet, and with saddened eyes, said, “I wish I would have taken my cousin out for ice cream more.”

“Daisy” smiled at Betty, praying to any deity that would listen that her disguise would work. “I’ve seen aliens,” she said, sporting her best fake accent in hopes of sounding like she was from out of town, “not far from the Golden Gate Bridge. They seemed friendly though.”   
Clifford looked at the girl like she was crazy at her out of the blue comment, which sold the illusion of him not knowing her that well more than it was intended to. Betty, however, simply smiled at the oddly familiar-looking girl and said, “Really? That’s so neat! Do you wanna tell me more about it? I wanna be a reporter when I graduate, so I love hearing people’s stories!” 

At that moment Ida’s eyes went wide. “Drat,” she thought to herself, “I didn’t think she’d believe me. Now I gotta make somethin’ up!” However, out loud she chose to say, “Yeah, sure! There were tall purple aliens with long flowing clothes, and grey aliens too! Plus some with huge sharp teeth!” As she talked on, she started to lose her fake accent.  
Betty cocked her head in confusion at the difference in the girl’s voice, but simply decided to chalk it up to how fickle and unique kids could be; she was a strange kid herself, after all. “Hmm… now isn’t that something, you saw three different kinds of aliens..” Betty began, before Lola cut her off, remembering that Betty was a relative of Ida’s and shouldn’t be paying too much more attention to the girl so she wouldn’t figure out her true identity.  
“So, uh, hey, how about that test in Miss B’s class? Now that was something, huh?” Lola piped in nervously.   
“Ugh, don’t get me started on it, I don’t even think we learned any of that stuff in the class!” Johnny replied angrily.  
“Yeah, sure was tough,” Betty added, with her head in her hands, “I sure hope I at least got a B. My folks say if I don’t keep my grades up I’ll never get into college!”   
“High school sure sounds tough,” Ida added, happening to forget to use an accent. She knew that Betty would recognize her, so she quickly looked away.   
“You bet it is, Daisy,” Betty added, “but you seem like a smart kid, I’m sure you’ll do just fine as long as you study hard.”   
“I will, I promise!” Ida beamed back with a grin that accidentally exposed her fangs.   
Betty Sue’s eyes widened in shock at the girl’s obviously vampiric fangs, and now she began to put the pieces together. That explains why the girl looked familiar, that explains why she was using a fake accent to hide her real voice, “Oh God,” she thought, “that’s Ida! That’s my baby cousin Ida!” 

Betty nearly leapt over the table to hug her cousin again, tears welling in her eyes as she realized that her cousin wasn’t dead after all. “Ida, oh, Ida, I can’t believe it’s really you! What have they done to you, sugar plum?” She cupped her cousin’s face in hand and clung tightly to her, not willing to lose her again. Then, with malice in her eyes, she turned to Johnny, hissing, “You did this, didn’t you?”   
That thought stung him right in the heart. He knew she had more than enough reason to hate him, but for her to think that he’d lay a hand on Ida, that was the last straw. Rather than draw any more attention to the situation in case people were paying attention, he glared back at her, just as Scarlet cut in.   
“No, good God, no, we found her like this!” Scarlet cried out, trying her best to keep her voice down. “Please, Betty, we know this is tough, but we’re just trying to show her the ropes of being a vampire so she can go back to the human world one day, so she can see her parents again!”  
Ida looked up into Betty Sue’s eyes and said, “Betty, I’m sorry I didn’t come find you. I was scared, I didn’t want to bite you. I promise I’ll come home someday, just you wait.”   
“You… didn’t want to bite me?” Betty said, taken aback. “Ida, I’ve been keeping a secret from you too. Last year I was turned into a vampire at the homecoming parade,” she shot a look at Johnny, before turning back to Ida, and saying, “that’s why I stopped coming to family stuff. But I’m so happy you’re okay!”   
“Wait, you’re a vampire too?” Ida’s face lit up when she realized that she didn’t have to worry about not having Betty around anymore, “So, that means we can always be together, right?”   
“Yes, always!” Betty replied, before pulling in the younger vampire tightly for a hug. 

Clifford and Lola smiled at this heartfelt reunion, thankful that the two had each other.  
“So,” Lola said, “you’re in on our biggest...well, second biggest secret.”   
Betty looked over at Lola, and said, “Yeah, I guess I am now. But you will return my cousin to her family eventually, right?”   
“Scout’s honor,” Clifford said, as Lola mouthed the words, “He’s not a boy scout.”  
Betty smiled a smile of relief, and sat down next to Ida. “So, are we actually gonna eat or not?”   
A chorus of “Sure,” and “You bet,” bubbled up from around her, as the group of vampires all sat around at the ice cream parlor. 

Several hours of talking,playful joking around, some not-so-playful insults between Betty Sue and Johnny passed, and they got up to leave the ice cream parlor, when the last person they ever expected to see arrived.   
“Oh, Jesus,” Clifford muttered under his breath, as Betty Sue and Scarlet both placed a protective arm in front of Ida.   
In walked Miss Rebecca Ann Behave, the most feared teacher at Hollywood High. Though a petite woman with a button nose and flowing auburn hair, behind that cute exterior there was a true force to be reckoned with, especially after she was turned into a vampire with extreme strength and hypersensitive hearing. She scanned around the ice cream parlor, her eyes falling onto the group of teenagers in front of her.   
“Scarlet, Betty, what are you doing here with,” Miss Behave hesitated, then said with acid in her voice, “these three?”   
“They’re friends of mine, Miss Behave,” Scarlet spoke up. Scarlet was a favorite of Miss Behave, because she often kept to herself during class.  
“You could do better,” the teacher replied.   
Without warning, Ida removed the arms protecting her, and swayed toward the teacher with the confidence of a true greaser. “‘Sup, ‘Teacher Mama’?”

The five teenagers’ jaws dropped in unison. The room fell silent that even Harry, who was behind the counter, could be heard whispering, “Holy shit,” under his breath. Miss Behave cocked an eyebrow in shock and confusion at who this girl was, however, simply threw her head back and laughed. When she finished laughing at Ida’s unexpected outburst, she wiped a tear from her eye and crouched down to Ida’s level.   
“And what is your name, young lady?” she asked, trying to suppress a giggle.   
Once again, Betty, Scarlet, and now Johnny moved to protect Ida as she answered, “The name’s Ida, and yes I’m that missing girl but I’m alive and these kids are my friends! I promise, they didn’t bite me, though! Please don’t get mad at them.”

Once again, silence fell over the parlor again as Johnny used the hand that wasn’t on Ida’s shoulders to cover his face. Miss Behave got up and took a couple of steps back, looking at the teenagers in abject horror, jaw agape and fangs bared. She slowly began, “So, if you guys didn’t turn her… who did?”   
“That’s the thing,” Clifford said, “she doesn’t remember. We found her out in the woods one day, blood-starved half to death, and we took her in.”  
“It’s true,” Scarlet vowed, knowing that Miss Behave would believe her of all people, “I was there. Right now we’re doing our best to teach her how to survive as a vampire, then we’ll send her straight home so she can be with her family. You know how hard it is when you’re first turned, it’s hard to get used to a normal life again.”   
“Yes, and thanks to you kids I don’t know if I’m ever gonna get to have one of those,” Miss Behave snapped back. Then she stopped, looking at the young girl with them, and felt pity wash over her. Here was a kid who was never gonna grow up, never gonna have her first dance at prom, stuck forever in a little girl’s body, doomed to walk the nighttime forever. Miss Behave always had a soft spot for children, she was always hoping she would get married and have a few of her own, but now due to her current condition she knew that was a dream that could never be reached. “Tell you what, Ida, I’ll keep your secret for you,” she said, reaching out and grasping Ida’s small hand in hers, then looking over at the three greasers in the group, “as long as these three get straight A’s for the rest of the year.” 

Clifford, Lola, and Johnny looked at each other, stunned. Just how in the hell were they gonna do that, when Miss Behave is one of the teachers on whom the bet depends?   
“We’ll, um, try our best, ma’am,” Clifford barely stuttered out.  
Miss Behave then demanded, “You three, meet me after class tomorrow. You’ve got a lot of studying to do if you’re gonna get straight A’s, and I suppose someone has to help you do it.” She then crouched back down to Ida’s level and softly said, “Keep them in line, alright, dear?”   
“Got it!” Ida suddenly sprang forward to hug the teacher, which the petite yet powerful teacher gladly reciprocated. The young girl looked back at the teenage vampires, sticking her tongue out at them, as if to say “She likes me because I’m still cute!”

As Clifford quickly scooped up Ida into his arms and ran off, the rest of the pack following, Miss Behave simply looked on in amusement at how even the toughest vampires at the school feared her. She then turned to the counter and said, “Harry, what’s this I hear about a flavor they call ‘Cherry Royale’?” 

As the vampire teens ran out the door and into the parking lot, Betty exclaimed, “I can’t believe it, did I just see Miss Behave be nice? She’s not even that nice to me, and I’m at the top of the class!”   
“Beats me, maybe she just really likes kids,” Johnny panted as he ran to his car.   
“Guys, what are ya talking about?” Ida asked, “She seemed nice, she even offered to be your tutor!”   
“No one’s gonna believe this one,” Scarlet laughed. 

Betty Sue laughed too, and she said, “Hey Scarlet, need a ride home? You don’t live that far away from me, I can drop you off.”   
Scarlet replied, “Well, if you don’t mind,” then, turning to her friends, asked, “That cool with you guys?”   
“Yeah,” Clifford answered, “no problem. We’ll see you tomorrow.”   
Before getting in her car, Betty Sue ran over and hugged Ida once more before departing, saying, “Don’t worry, I’ll see you really soon.”  
“I missed you, Betty,” Ida said to her cousin.  
“I missed you, too,” Betty replied, before turning and walking off. 

The other four got into Johnny’s car and drove off to the shack where Clifford, Lola, and Ida called home, as Betty and Scarlet sat in the parking lot.   
“I still can’t believe it, Ida’s really okay!” Betty said, smiling in the driver’s seat of her car, “But,” she added, turning to Scarlet in the passenger’s seat, “why didn’t you guys tell me?”  
Scarlet sighed. She actually didn’t have a good enough answer for this one, so she decided she’d tell the truth: “It slipped our minds. We wanted to keep Ida as much of a secret as possible, because, well…” Scarlet trailed off.  
“Because what, Scar?” Betty asked.  
“Because we’d met her before. A couple of us went camping over the summer, and she found us, and for a few days more or less adopted us as her family. When she first went missing, we were all so heartbroken, and when we found her, we couldn’t just leave her. We vampires stick together, you know.”   
“But I am a vampire, Scarlet.” Betty said bluntly. “I mean, what, were you scared I was gonna go to the police or something?”   
“Yes!” Scarlet exclaimed, “That’s exactly what we were worried about. We thought that if anyone outside our group knew, they’d turn us in immediately, or think we’re the reason she went missing, and go tell someone who would turn us in. Do you really think a police officer would believe that we’re only holding a missing girl because we’re vampires, she’s one too, and we’re trying to teach her how to be a vampire, which includes, oh, you know, killing people for their blood?”   
“Scarlet,” Betty began.  
Scarlet interrupted, “Betty, I really am sorry that we didn’t tell you Ida was alive. We should have, and we didn’t, and you had the right to know.”   
“Scar-” Betty began again, interrupted once more by Scarlet.  
“I know we should have let you in on it, and I wouldn’t blame you if you never spoke to any of us again, but you’re more than welcome to see-”  
“Scarlet!” Betty shrieked, trying to get Scarlet’s attention. “I’m not mad! Okay, that’s not true, I’m a little mad, but I kinda get it. People don’t need to know that vampires exist yet, and you were worried that if you let every single person you knew in on Ida’s existence that someone would inevitably blab and it’d turn into a big debacle. I’m just glad she’s in good hands. You guys more or less saved my cousin’s life, that’s more than I could ask of you.”  
“So, this stays between us, right?” Scarlet asked meekly.  
“Yes, between us, and Miss Behave.” Betty replied with a fanged grin. “Let’s get home, Scarlet, our parents might be worried.”   
“Yeah, we probably should, huh?” Scarlet giggled, and the two drove off in the direction of Scarlet’s house.


	5. Chapter 5

Halloween night finally had arrived in Hollywood, the moon was high, the sunlight was fading, and houses were covered in decorations ranging from paper ghosts and bats to fake spiderwebs and skeletons. Young children everywhere donned their costumes that their parents had worked so hard to make from scratch, to go out on a quest for their neighbors’ candy. Like many other children her age, young Ida, too, would be able to go out trick or treating, with the company of her older cousin Betty Sue. Lola and Betty Sue worked hard together to make Ida’s costume, a black sweater with attached bat wings to the sleeves and a plain black domino mask to disguise her face, and Betty Sue donned one of the frilly dresses from the costume department of the drama club, pairing a staff with it for a lovely Little Bo Peep costume. Betty Sue told her parents that she would be going to her friend Scarlett’s Halloween party tonight, which was true, however, before she could do that she was going to take her little cousin on her promised trick or treating trip. While Betty Sue finished getting ready at Clifford, Lola, and Ida’s makeshift home, she noticed Clifford’s bizarre costume for the party. Lola was wearing a sheet with eyes cut out, so she was obviously a ghost, but Clifford seemed to be wearing one of those cones one would put on a dog after a surgery, and only his pink hair was visible. 

“Erm, Clifford,” Betty Sue began, “Do you mind if I ask exactly what on Earth you’re supposed to be?”   
“Not at all,” Clifford beamed, “I’m cotton candy!”  
At this, Ida burst out laughing, while Betty Sue just stared at him with an equal mix of appreciation of his wit and embarrassment.   
Lola leaned into Betty Sue’s ear and said, “I tried to talk him out of it, but he thought it was too funny to not do.” 

After a few moments, the two siblings left the shack on Clifford’s motorcycle, which admittedly was not the safest thing for them to since Clifford couldn’t see, so Lola, in her white ghost sheet, was the one driving. Betty Sue and Ida soon departed in the former’s car, off to find a good neighborhood where Ida could get lots of candy. Even though Betty Sue wasn’t even sure if Ida could eat candy, she decided that now was a good a night as ever to find out.   
“Now remember, Ida, if anyone asks you for your name, what is it?” Betty Sue asked, worried that Ida was going to get herself in trouble.   
“My name’s Daisy Ruth, and you’re my babysitter!” Ida beamed back in reply.  
“Very good!” Betty chirped, worried that someone could potentially connect “Daisy Ruth” being her cousin back to the supposedly long gone Ida. With the fake name and the mask, she should be just fine as long as they went to a new neighborhood where no one close to the Welson family would be to recognize her silvery little voice. 

They finally found a decent neighborhood for trick or treating about 20 minutes away from the shack, and Betty Sue parked her car. The two began walking from house to house, Ida going up to each door and collecting her treat, then returning to Betty Sue. This went on for at least an hour, until Ida spotted a girl walking alone down the street in a purple dress and a simple fox mask. She stopped, stared for a moment, and then darted towards the girl.   
“Rosie!” Ida shrieked as she ran.  
The girl turned, her coal-colored hair whipping across her mask as she let out a muffled yell of, “Ida!” and began to run toward the other girl herself.   
The girl named Rosie, who was a good deal taller than Ida, encroached her friend in a hug and the two dropped to their knees in the hug. “Ida, I thought you were dead!” Rosie said from behind her mask. “But I had a feeling, I always knew something good would happen! Where were you all this time, where’d you go?” she asked. Ida leaned in and whispered her answer into Rosie’s ear, and she drew her head back in shock, her large black eyes widened in shock from behind her mask. “You’re kidding! Do you have the big sharp teeth?” Rosie asked her friend. Ida grinned, baring her fangs proudly. “Wow! That’s so cool!” she beamed.

Betty Sue ran up to Ida and immediately said, “Uhhhh, Daisy, what’s going on here?”  
Ida stood up, with Rosie in tow, and chirped in response, “Betty, you don’t have to call me that. Don’t you remember Rosie? She was at all my birthday parties!”   
When Betty Sue thought about it, she realized that she never actually remembered Ida knowing a girl named Rosie, but as she had already learned many times before, the world had worked in mysterious ways. “I can’t say I do,” Betty replied, “Hello, Rosie! I’m Betty Sue, I’m Ida’s cousin.”   
Rosie let out a muffled greeting from behind her mask, that she had yet to take off.   
“Rosie, can you do Ida and I a huge favor?” Betty Sue implored of the masked girl. “Please, for the rest of the night, call Ida ‘Daisy’, people don’t know she’s...well, you know.”   
Rosie nodded, and grabbed her friend’s hand. “Come on, ‘Daisy’,” she said, “Let’s go get some candy!”

The two girls bolted down the sidewalk together, hand in hand, stopping at house after house and racking up what seemed like pounds of candy. They chatted away near endlessly, each telling stories of what they did over the past few months. As they neared the end of the street, they approached the biggest house on it. The two girls, hand in hand, walked up the sidewalk to the house and knocked on the door, with Betty Sue not far behind. The door opened, and there stood Krystal Knaresborough, in her homecoming dress from the year prior, with a bowl of candy in her hand and a grumpy expression on her face.  
“Hi…” An awkward pause happened for a second. “..Krissy!” Ida beamed, before whispering to Rosie, “No need to call me ‘Daisy’ right now. I know her. Sort of.”   
The fury behind Krystal’s eyes was more than enough for Betty Sue to run over closer to the girls and put an arm around each of them protectively. “Happy Halloween, Krystal! Fancy seeing you here, huh?” she shakily said.   
“Yeah, some Halloween this is. What are you supposed to be?” Krystal huffed at her classmate.  
“I’m Little Bo Peep!” Betty Sue replied. “Well, instead of sheep I have a bat and a fox, but that’s-”  
She was cut off with a “Yeah, that’s great. Look, kids, just take your candy and get going, I’d like to get done with this as soon as possible.” Krystal dropped two pieces of candy in each girl’s bag and shut the door, ending the conversation.   
“Ida,” Rosie gulped, “How do you know that lady again?”   
“She’s a friend of Betty’s.” Ida shrugged. “She’s nice sometimes.”  
“Some friend she is, huh, Rosie?” Betty Sue giggled.   
“Yeah,” Rosie replied, “I’m glad Ida isn’t like that.”   
As the three walked away from the devil’s den, Ida whispered to her friend, “I actually remembered Krystal’s name. I just wanted to mess with her.” Rosie snickered, and then both girls were laughing, catching Betty’s attention. “What are you two laughing about?” Betty inquired, arms crossed and smiling.  
“Oh, nothing,” Ida replied, trying to wipe the sly grin off of her face.  
“Come on,” Betty Sue laughed, “Let’s get this show on the road,” as the three continued on their trek for candy.

Meanwhile, at the party, The Monster Mash played in the distance as the many teens, vampire and human, mingled, laughed, and joked around. Scarlet and Donna, free from judgement, held hands and snuggled up closely. The two even had matching costumes: Scarlet was a witch, and Donna was dressed as a black cat, complete with homemade ears and tail. The ghost-sheet clad Lola was chatting with Cass, dressed as a toilet paper-wrapped mummy, near the “special” punch bowl. Not too far away, the latter’s brother, clad in his pyjamas, was sitting on the couch next to Rudy, who also slacked on his costume and was merely wearing a paper bag on his head. Giovanni, dressed up as a cowboy, was attempting to chat up Penny and Peggy, an inseparable pair of cheerleaders, who took a more creative route and made their own Cinderella and Snow White costumes. While Ruby, a red-headed, mischievous vampire was watching the scene unfold from a distance, she jumped as right behind her ear, Jacket Miller clashed a pair of cymbals behind her.   
“Jesus, Joey, what is your pro-” she began, whipping around in her Red Riding Hood costume only to find that Jacket was wearing a very eerie monkey mask, and she jumped back even further. “Joey..?” she asked, somewhat sheepishly.  
Jacket only tilted his head silently in response. At that, Ruby walked away, completely shaken by her classmate’s unnerving costume. She could hear him burst into giggles at the reaction he got from her, a sound that she met with a silent hiss and an angry glare. 

Just then, the door opened and Krystal, clad in her blue homecoming dress from the year before,and a gem-encrusted tiara, cried out in a sing-song voice, “The party is here!”  
Every head turned toward the source of the noise, and a grumbled “Oh jeez,” could be heard ever so slightly.  
Penny and Peggy skipped over to Krystal, whom they both admired and feared. “Gosh, Krystal,” Penny cooed, “Your dress makes a better Cinderella than mine!”   
“Yeah,” Peggy added, “You look like a real life princess!”   
The cheerleaders fawned over Krystal for a while as she walked over to the punch bowl set out for humans and got a drink. Donna whispered something in Scarlet’s ear and she giggled. 

“So,” Krystal began, “What’d I miss?” With a roll of her eyes, Lola replied, “Quite a lot actually. We were telling stories about you, Dottie accidentally crashed into one of the fake ghosts while dancing, and there was a guy dressed up as a taxi driver elf or something. He didn’t seem to be from around here.”   
Krystal looked confused at this, and said, “So why’d you let the guy in if you don’t know him?”   
Lola simply shrugged, and replied, “Actually, I don’t remember seeing him even come in,” she paused, looking both ways before leaning in closer and whispering, “Kind of spooky, dontcha think?”   
“Sure, that’s the word for it.” Krystal looked around to spot the now broken ghost prop. Dottie really did a lot of damage. “So,were the stories you were talking about earlier good stories?” “Um…. Yeah, always.” Lola lied, a grin awkwardly spreading across her face. “Anyway, I think they’re gonna start bobbing for apples! Let’s go watch,” she said, gently taking Krystal’s hand and leading her to the backyard where a large bucket of water full of apples was.

A small crowd of teenagers formed around the bucket, and Rudy was up first. He took off his paper bag and said, “Here goes nothin’!” before dunking his head in. After a while, he popped his head back up, an apple in his mouth and hands victoriously in the air. The menagerie of teenagers clapped and cheered, as Rudy pointed at Donna and said, “Come on chickie, your turn!”   
Donna rolled her eyes and shrugged as Cass and Jacket initiated a chant of “Don-na! Don-na! Don-na!”   
“Okay, okay, fine,” she laughed, handing her homemade cat ears to Scarlet and approaching the bucket. She took one big inhale before dunking her head in. She came up for breath once before successfully grabbing an apple, to which the crowd cheered and clapped. The cycle of bobbing for apples, some succeeding and others failing, went on for a while, until a faint “Hello?” was heard at the gate. Scarlet walked over to the gate to see who it was, and found Betty Sue and Ida at the door.   
“Scarlet, what’s been going on?” Betty Sue asked, “I’ve been knocking at the door for at least ten minutes!”   
“Sorry Betty,” Scarlet replied, “we were all out here bobbing for apples.”   
“Ooh, I wanna play!” Ida chirped, “Can I? Please?”  
“Of course, let me take you over there,” Scarlet said, taking Ida by the hand. “Everyone, this is Daisy, she’s my little cousin from out of town, she wants to give it a shot!”   
The crowd of teenagers parted, some eyeing each other suspiciously and wondering what having a younger person would mean for the rest of the night. It was only when Clifford and Lola clapped and shouted “Come on, Daisy, you can do it!” that the silence broke and the other teenagers began to clap and cheer for the young girl. Ida, without hesitation, dunked her head into the bucket and pulled out an apple. The crowd hooted and hollered for “Daisy”, as Betty Sue beamed toward the back of the crowd. 

Betty Sue was approached by Ruby, Penny, and Peggy, all in their fairy tale costumes.   
“Betty, we’ve been waiting for you all night! Where have you been?” Ruby asked.  
“Well, Mr. and Mrs. Reddington asked me to take Daisy trick or treating, so I did.” Betty Sue shrugged, doing her best to maintain the lie she was telling, “They paid me pretty well for it too.” 

Meanwhile, Scarlet, Johnny, and Ida went back inside and Ida began to tell them about her night. “I got so much candy tonight, you guys! Even Krystal was handing it out. Ooh, and I saw my friend Rosie for the first time since summer! We walked around all night long until she bumped into another group of kids and said she had to go. I was really sad but it seemed important, but anyway, so much candy!” Ida squealed in delight.   
Scarlet and Johnny looked at each other, relieved that Ida’s night went well. Soon Giovanni joined them in the room and happily roared, “Hey, there’s my little troublemaker!” as he scooped up Ida and spun her around. “So,” he asked, “I bet you and Betty made a killing tonight! See anything cool?” And the girl began chattering excitedly to him about how her Halloween went so far.   
Out of nowhere, there was a high pitched squeal, and they were joined by Dottie Watson, a fellow student with light reddish-brown hair in a medium bob, who was wearing a cheap vampire costume… Despite being a vampire herself. “That was so adorable!” She quickly approached Ida, crouching down and grinning like someone who could possibly be a serial killer. “What’s your name? Are you related to Gio? Do you like my costume? Did Krystal really hand out ca-” “Don’t bombard my cousin with questions, Dottie.” Scarlet warned.   
“Whoops! My bad!” Dottie chirped.  
Ida laughed it off awkwardly, before answering, “I’m Daisy.”   
“Daisy?” Dottie repeated, “That’s such a cute name! I didn’t know Scarlet had a cousin! Well, I bet everyone has a cousin or more, so I shouldn’t be surprised!”   
Ida slowly nodded, slightly annoyed. “Yeah,” she trailed off.   
“Oh, I gotta confront Krystal about this! I knew she had good in her!” And just like that, Dottie was off.   
“Is she usually like that?” Ida asked Scarlet, concern in her eyes.   
Sighing, Scarlet replied, “Unfortunately, yes.” 

A few minutes passed and Krystal came over to Scarlet and Ida, trying her best to hold back her fury. “Kid, did you have to tell Dottie about my little obligation? Out of all of them, really, her?!”   
“I didn’t mean for her to hear it, I was telling Giovanni and then she came out of nowhere an-” Ida panickedly rushed through her apology, hoping she didn’t anger Krystal too much.  
Scarlet added, “I didn’t even see Dottie coming, but it was too late.”  
Krystal rolled her eyes, and with crossed arms said, “Oh well, I suppose you didn’t do that much damage to my reputation. After all, what’s wrong with a little charity work, right?”   
Scarlet fought the urge to remind Krystal that handing out candy on Halloween was not charity work in the slightest, but she decided to let it pass. This party was at her house, after all, and if anything broke in an altercation she would have to pay for it.

The rest of the night went smoothly, with lots of dancing, music, and revelry. As the night went on and more curfews were being hit, more guests left the Reddington house. Johnny and Giovanni were some of the last to leave, along with Clifford, Lola, and young Ida. Scarlet and Donna were the only two left in the house by the end of the party.   
“Scar, this was such a fun night! Everyone was having fun, even Krystal! She never has any fun,” Donna beamed.  
“Yeah, unless someone’s being put in the hospital,” Scarlet laughed.  
“I had a really great time,” Donna said softly.  
“Yeah, me too,” Scarlet agreed.   
Donna pulled Scarlet in for a kiss on the cheek and said, “Happy Halloween,” before getting her coat and walking to her car.  
“Don’t let the bed bugs bite!” Scarlet shouted from the doorway.  
“What about the vampires?” Donna smugly asked.  
“Only if they’re named Scarlet,” she smirked in reply.

Donna laughed as she got into her car, and drove off into the night. Scarlet knew she had a good bit to clean up, but at least she could use this as an excuse to sleep until sunset tomorrow.


	6. Chapter 6

The school play of Hamlet was set to open tonight, and the vampire gang, including their youngest member, was invited to come and watch it by Krystal, who had snagged the lead role of Ophelia.   
Krystal gushed to the vampires at lunch about her role, loving the spotlight.  
"Guys, I can't wait for you to see me in this! I am going to steal the show, I always knew I had it in me!" Krystal exclaimed, blue eyes burning with excitement.  
"Slow your roll there, princess," Johnny remarked at her, "I don't think I've seen you this excited in a long time. I didn't even know you liked theater."  
Krystal huffed, “Well, I’ve had quite a busy schedule these past few months, but I’ll have you know I was Tiger Lily in Hollywood Middle School’s production of Peter Pan, remember that?”  
“No,” Johnny said, “I only moved here 3 years ago.”   
“Oh yeah, I forgot about that,” Krystal said, blushing with embarrassment.   
“We’ll be there, though,” Clifford piped in, “can Ida come too?”  
“The more the merrier! Maybe it’ll inspire her,” Krystal trailed off, imagining fame.

As the lunch bell rang, the vampires departed from Krystal and each other as the school day droned on and on like usual. Clifford, Scarlett, and Lola came home to Ida and informed her of the invitation.  
“I’m going to see a play?!” Ida bounced with excitement upon hearing the news back at the shack.   
“Yup, and be sure to thank Krystal,” Scarlett said, before murmuring, “I never thought I’d be saying that.”   
“Should I wear a nice dress? I could wear one of the dresses I found!” Ida raced to her closet, only to find nothing. “Oh, right. The closet’s my bed,” Ida remarked, before looking around the room, searching everywhere a dress could be found. “Where do I keep my clothes again?" Ida asked, before chirping, “I forgot- Wait! Nevermind! It’s in the drawers!” She pulled out a purple dress patterned with black dots.  
Scarlett smiled at the young vampire, saying, “Aww, it looks so cute! You should wear that!”  
“That’s what I should do then!” Ida exclaimed, and off she went to get changed.

Once everyone was ready; or, at least once Ida was ready, they headed over to the high school auditorium. Krystal’s mother and father were sitting in the front row, excited to see their little girl on the stage. Clifford, Lola, and Ida took their seats, and Ida saved two seats for Scarlett and Donna to sit together. Soon, Scarlett and Donna took their seats on the end. Then, Donna noticed a familiar face talking to Miss Behave and Principal Goodwood.   
“Wait a minute, is that Cathy Moretti?” Donna whispered, pointing discreetly to the girl in pink.   
“Yeah, I think it is!” Scarlett replied.  
“Pssst,” Ida piped in, “Who’s Cathy Moretti?”  
“Cathy used to go here, she was Krystal’s best friend turned campaign manager until the whole homecoming, um, incident occurred.” Donna explained to the young vampire. “She moved away last year and I didn’t think I’d ever see her again.”   
“Really? I wanna meet her!” Ida exclaimed, “Is she nice?”   
“Well, yes, but Ida, she never really hung out with us,” Lola added. “She’s a sweet girl, unless you’re Giovanni, but it’s basically a miracle that she even entered this building.”  
“Wait, what happened between her and Gio?” the young vampire asked.  
“He liked her, she didn’t like him back, it was hilarious,” Lola said. 

Just then, the two Pirozzi brothers scooted into their seats next to Clifford, and Clifford tapped Giovanni and smirked.   
“Look who came back home,” Clifford snickered, “It’s your wife!”  
Giovanni glared at Clifford and let out a hiss, baring his fangs as Johnny and Clifford high fived.

After Cathy finished talking with the faculty, she went on to reunite with more of her friends, when she finally same across her other two friends, Karen Mitchum and Louisa “Buttercup” Andreas. They enveloped her in a group hug, laughing and smiling like old times.   
“Gosh, it’s only been one year, but it felt like forever since I last saw you!” Karen chirped, before Buttercup piped in, “What’s it like in San Fran?”   
“It’s so pretty there!” Cathy gushed, “The pier has so many sea lions, and the trolleys are so much fun to ride! Though there was an alien invasion last year, it’s so peaceful there.”   
She received the shocked faces of her two friends, along with a “No way!”   
Ida, who was eavesdropping, blinked. No wonder why Betty believed her made-up story.   
“Oh my goodness, Cathy, things have been so different here without you,” Buttercup said, with a hand in Cathy’s, “Well, I mean it’s not just because you left, a lot of things have been different, but you know what I mean!”   
“I can’t believe I’m admitting it, but it’s so good to be back,” Cathy said, “Really other than you two I had no reason to ever set foot in this town again.”   
“I know,” Buttercup replied, “But would you come back for my graduation party?”  
“Only if you come to mine,” Cathy beamed, “You too, Karen. You guys can stay at my place and we can make a vacation out of it!”  
Karen grinned and said, “Yes, absolutely! Let me ask my mom and dad first, I’m sure they won’t mind.”

Just then, Cathy felt a grip around her waist. She turned around and found Krystal there, in a long, plaited blonde wig and red gown.   
“Krystal?” Cathy said, “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be backstage or-”  
Krystal interrupted her with, “I won’t tell anyone if you won’t. I missed you so much!”   
“Yeah….me too…” Cathy hesitated, fearful. Before the incident that occurred a year before, Krystal and Cathy were nearly inseparable best friends, but ever since the homecoming attack the two’s relationship became very strained and uncomfortable. Krystal was the last person Cathy hoped to see tonight, but she knew that somehow, she’d always find a way to hunt her down.   
“What are you doing after the show tonight?” Krystal inquired, having turned Cathy around and now holding her two hands in hers.   
“Erhm, well, I was thinking of just going back to my hotel and going to bed,” Cathy replied, not making eye contact.  
“How about you sleep over at my house tonight?” Krystal offered, with a grin.  
“Gee, I’d love to,” Cathy refused, “but I already spent the money to stay at a hotel, it would be a waste.”   
“Ooooh!” Krystal beamed, “Then how about I sleep over at the hotel? It’ll be just like going on vacation!” She turned to her parents and asked, “Mama, Papa, can I stay at Cathy’s hotel room tonight? Tomorrow is Saturday after all, so I don’t have to be up early.”  
Mr. and Mrs. Knaresborough nodded, and Krystal hugged Cathy tight, murmuring, “It’s so good to have you back.”

Then, as Krystal departed and snuck back onstage, the lights in the school auditorium went down, and the show was set to begin. The students playing the guards at castle Elsinore did an alright job, except one was using a hokey Cockney accent the whole time, which received subtle glares from his costars. The senior playing King Hamlet’s ghost was accompanied by dry ice fog, which lead to him having to wave some of the fog out of the way constantly whenever he was onstage.   
“Oh boy, what did we get into?” Scarlett whispered to Donna.  
“I don’t think I want to know,” Donna replied, “At least they aren’t getting paid for this.”

Hamlet was played by Peggy Bruester, and when the character Laertes, Hamlet’s adversary in later acts, was introduced, he was being played by none other than Peggy’s best friend, Penny Fitzgerald. Peggy seemed to nail the role of Hamlet, which was very surprising for such a peppy girl. It was as if she had been to numerous Broadway shows and took notes about everything. The same went for Penny, who did an equally wonderful job. However, there was one major problem: Whenever their characters were supposed to get angry at each other, they would struggle and seem to apologize to each other with their eyes, which broke the illusion. 

Soon, it was time for the death of Polonius, whose actor was wearing a pouch filled with fake blood to make the stab wound more realistic. Peggy reached out and stabbed her prop knife up into Polonius’ stomach, and fake blood sprayed out, covering her in red. Polonius stood there, shouting in fake pain, before just laying down on the floor. Just then, Krystal decided to come out onstage and begin a monologue that wasn’t even in the script, mourning her dead father. 

“Oh, Hamlet,” Krystal lamented, “Hamlet, how could you betray me like this? And yet, I still love you. Oh Hamlet, you are not the man I once knew, I wish I could even try to understand-” She was interrupted by Polonius grabbing her leg and trying to pull her offstage. She decided to react in the moment and humiliate the mediocre actor by dropping to her knees and crying out, “Father! Speak to me once more, father, you must not leave me like this! I felt thine touch upon my leg, I know you hear me still, so speak, speak!” as she cradled him awkwardly in her arms. 

In the audience, Scarlett’s head was in her hands and she was on the verge of walking out of the theater. She had read Hamlet before, and knew for a fact that absolutely none of this was in the play. Just what on Earth was Krystal trying to achieve this time? Was she actively trying to get kicked out of the cast and embarrass everyone in it? She squeezed Donna’s hand, trying her hardest not to leave the theater. Clifford wished he could film this production, this was the most outrageous thing he had ever seen at Hollywood High that he himself wasn’t involved with. 

After a painfully long time, the scene where Queen Gertrude informs the court of Ophelia’s drowning came. This was one of the most famous scenes in the play, and yet right after Hamlet received the awful news, who else but Krystal came barrelling out in her white dress, blonde wig a tangled mess, shouting, “Behold! I have survived, Your Highness! I awoke in a tomb this morning, though I was alive! Thou hast buried me alive, but I escaped to see my Hamlet once more!” 

“Oh, my god,” Scarlett mumbled, nearly pulling her hair out. This could not be happening. She wished it was all just a bad dream, because right now she felt like she was living in a nightmare. She felt even worse for everyone who put in so much work in this play, only to have it all ruined. 

“Krysta-I mean, Ophelia,” Peggy said, “This is an impossibility, you have drowned. This must be a mere phantom, or even an illusion. Alas, fair mother, do you see her too?”  
Queen Gertrude, who was played by a senior named Cindy Barton, replied, “Son, of what do you speak? I fear you are losing yourself.”   
“I’m right here, Your Majesty!” Krystal said angrily, before saying, “Yoo-hoo! Earth to Your Majesty, I’m not invisible!”   
“Oh good God in Heaven,” Peggy cried out, clutching her head and trying not to listen to the audience’s laughter, “Mother, I can still hear her sweet voice!” She pointed to a vase full of plastic white flowers, continuing, “Mayhaps this is all the work of these flowers, the kind that Ophelia loved so dearly.”  
“Stop acting like I’m dead!” Krystal huffed with a stomp of her foot.  
A student, whose role was that of an extra, walked over to Krystal, tapping her on the shoulder and whispering,“You’re supposed to be dead. You’re not in this scene at all.”  
Krystal responded by grabbing his head and slamming it against a set piece, knocking him out cold. As everyone else on stage stared in horror, Krystal said in a joyful demeanor, as if she didn’t just bash someone’s head in against a hard surface, “Sometimes the truth is painful.” After a brief silence, Peggy added, “Oh dear, he seems to have fainted.”  
At that point, Miss Behave got up from her seat next to Principal Goodwood and whispered, “I’ll handle this.”

The students mumbled between themselves, shocked at what was going on on the stage before them. Was this really Hamlet? Was this some kind of new age art piece? Was this an April Fool’s joke? A few moments later, the lights all turned out and the microphones stopped working. Scarlett used this opportunity to run out of the theater while Donna held her hand, and soon the other vampires followed suit, Ida being the last due to applauding the failed performance, thinking everything that happened was part of the story.  
“What’s wrong, Scar?” Johnny asked.   
“I just cannot believe what I just saw!” Scarlett fumed, “That wasn’t Hamlet, that was a mess! I just watched people I know mess up my favorite Shakespeare play-”  
“Wait,” Clifford interrupted, “You actually read Shakespeare? And you like it too?”  
“Yes, Clifford, I like reading Shakespeare, what’s your point?” Scarlett hissed.  
Before Clifford could respond, Ida butted in. “What was wrong with the play? It was funny!”   
With a deep sigh, Scarlett replied, “It’s not supposed to be funny. Half of that stuff didn’t even happen in the play.”   
“I liked this version though!” Ida chuckled. “I liked when Ophelia knocked out that guy!”   
Scarlett knew she couldn’t really defend herself here, the girl was too young to get Shakespeare. “Alright, as long as you had fun.” 

 

Meanwhile, at Cathy’s hotel, Krystal was sitting on the bed adjacent to hers, excitedly chattering on about how much fun the night would be.   
“Gosh, this is so great, Krystal and Cathy back together again! I missed you so much, Cathy, you have no idea,” Krystal gushed.  
“Yeah, I missed you too,” Cathy hesitantly admitted. She really did miss Krystal sometimes, although she really just missed the old Krystal from before all of the Homecoming drama. But, Krystal really seemed to be acting like her old self again, and Cathy was relieved.  
“It’s been pretty crazy here without you,” Krystal said, laying on the bed and kicking her legs back and forth.   
“I bet,” Cathy said, “I mean, you guys have vampires out in the open now, kids are adjusting to immortality, it must be really something. Heck, in San Francisco we literally had a spaceship land, so I guess everywhere’s kind of weird right now, huh?” Cathy thought for a moment, before jokingly asking, “Did you send the aliens?”  
Krystal threw her head back and laughed, “That depends on who’s asking.”  
The pair laughed together and spent the night catching up while laying against the headboard, and ending up falling asleep in the same bed because they were up all night talking and Krystal not bothering to get up when Cathy succumbed to sleep. Perhaps being back in Hollywood wasn’t so bad, after all.

As the human girls slept, the vampires went out to their diner and told Harry all about the fiasco of a play.   
“Good lord, you’ve gotta be kidding!” Harry laughed, “I can’t even act surprised, only at Hollywood High.”   
“Yeah,” Scarlett moped, a little heartbroken at the fact that her favorite Shakespeare play was so badly butchered.  
“Awh, don’t feel too bad, Scar,” Donna said, with an arm around Scarlett’s back, “At least next year you can be in the play and make sure it’s done right.”   
“You think I could get in?” Scarlett asked, perking up.   
“Are you kidding? Of course I do!” Donna said, with a sweet smile. “If they don’t let you in, I’ll beat them up.”  
“Awwww,” Johnny and Clifford cooed teasingly, to mess with the young couple.  
The pair rolled their eyes and held hands, and the gang of vampires laughed the night away until close to dawn, upon which they scattered and went back to their respective homes to sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

Hollywood may not have received the same dark, snowy weather that other places do in February, but winter most certainly had settled in. However, with the coming of February came Valentine’s Day, and the hearts of Hollywood High were aflutter with excitement and love. Girls walked down the hallway together, discussing how they hope and pray that their crushes will return their affections, and boys gathered, forming plans to ask their crushes to Hollywood High’s crown jewel of romance: the Valentine’s Day dance.

The dance was a week away, and the vampires sat at a lunch table in the cafeteria, talking about their usual subjects, until Giovanni Pirozzi brought up an unexpected topic:   
“Guys, I really wanna find a date to the Valentine’s Day dance this year. I just feel so....lame, you know?” he slumped.  
“Awh, Gio,” his older brother sympathized, “Don’t worry about it. You’re always lame to me!” He snickered, pulling his younger brother into a head rub to try and cheer him up when he realized that he was serious. “Oh, man, this has really got you down, huh?” he asked.   
“Giovanni, not everyone has a date to the dance, I don’t,” Lola added.   
“But you don’t go to the dances, Lola,” Giovanni sighed.  
“I know, but who says you have to go with someone? Just go with a couple of us, there will definitely be a few broken hearts at the dance that you can swoop in and rescue.”  
Giovanni cried out, “Okay, that works for Homecoming, but this is Valentine’s Day, Lo! Valentine’s Day ain’t for friends, it’s for girls!”  
Scarlett smirked and said, “Yeah it is,” under her breath, before realizing that she can help the conversation more than that. “There’s still a week, Giovanni. I’m sure we can find you a date by then! Do you know how many girls there are that don’t have dates yet? Even some of the cheerleaders don’t have dates yet.”  
Giovanni perked up his head, “Even the cheerleaders?”  
“Yep!” Scarlett smiled, baring her fangs.”I’ll help you find a date!”   
“Really? Scar, you’re the best!” He beamed, hugging her tightly. 

Meanwhile, Cathy Moretti was stressing out very badly, hands in her hair and elbows on a nearby table with Buttercup and Karen. “What if she says no? What if I freak out? Wha-” Cathy rambled on, before being interrupted by Karen.   
“Relax, Cool Cat. I don’t really see her as being the type to turn you down, but again, I also don’t see why you still like her even after what she had done,” Karen remarked.  
Cathy stammered, “Well, uh, I don’t know! I guess I’ve known her for too long or something!”  
“Don’t worry, Cathy. I know you’ll do great.” Buttercup smiled.  
“I really hope so, ‘cause what if I don’t? Then-”  
“Hello, girls,” Krystal said, with that signature smirk on her face, sitting down. “So, are you going to the Valentine’s Day dance?”   
Karen and Buttercup both looked at Cathy, though the color all but drained from her face, before nodding and saying various confirmations.   
“Cathy,” Krystal said, leaning in a bit, “Wanna go with me?”   
“I…” Cathy blushed bright red. “Uh… Okay,” Cathy started to stammer, “I mean, sure! Um, Yes!”  
“Perfect,” she said, smirking again, “We are going to have such a good time at the dance, Cathy, I promise.”   
The way she said that made Cathy a bit nervous.The last time Krystal said they were going to have a good time, there was all but a vampire invasion. But that was a while back, it was time to forget that, right? Krystal had her fun, she has no reason to do it again. At least, Cathy hoped so.

When the sun set, Ida woke up and hit her head on the closet door. She still wasn’t used to sleeping in something that wasn’t a bed and had doors. She went and greeted her two adoptive siblings, who were in the midst of a conversation regarding the events of the day.  
“Morning, Clifford! Morning, Lola!” she chirped, trying to ignore the pain in her head.  
“Hey, you!” Lola turned and smiled. “We were just talking about how the Valentine’s Day dance is coming up.”   
“Oh, that’s right! It’s almost Valentine’s Day!” Ida exclaimed, pressing her hands to the sides of her face.   
“Yeah, just a little over a week now,” Clifford said, “Why do you look so surprised? Do you have a playground crush or something?”  
“No, no, no!” Ida said, “I’m making everyone cards! Can we go to the store and pick up some stuff?”  
Lola and Clifford looked at one another and shrugged in agreement. “I don’t mind,” Clifford said, “As long as you’re making one for me.”  
“Of course I am!” Ida exclaimed, “Why wouldn’t I? You’re my big brother!” Her eyes went wide when she realized what she said, and noticed Clifford’s surprise as well.   
“Come on kid, let’s go,” Clifford said while gesturing toward the door, a serene smile on his face. Now he had two little sisters. Not that he was complaining, he couldn’t ask for better sisters than Lola and Ida.   
Clifford helped Ida get on the back of his motorcycle, fitting his helmet to her head. He made a note that while they were at the store to run out and pick up a kids’ sized helmet so she was safer on his bike.   
“Hold on, kiddo!” He said, as the two sped off.

Clifford and Ida’s trip to the store included going to a craft store to pick up construction paper, mostly in red, paints, and paintbrushes. The two of them then headed off to Clifford’s favorite mechanic to pick up a child-sized helmet for her. Finally, the two stopped to visit Harry at the ice cream parlor.  
“Hey, Harry,” Clifford greeted the fellow vampire, “Wanna get us some Cherry Royales?”  
“You got it, Cliff,” he beamed, “Hi, Ida.”  
“Hi Harry!” Ida chirped happily. She was always happy to see him, and that melted his heart. Or, maybe she was just happy to see the ice cream. “Clifford, what are you guys doin’ for Valentine’s Day?”   
“Well, the high school’s having a dance, and I might go. Right now we’re working on finding Giovanni a date, though, he doesn’t want to go alone.”  
“Why can’t he just go with you?” she asked, tilting her head as her dark ponytail tilted with it.   
“That’s what I was saying,” Clifford responded, “But Romeo there just has to find a girl to go with,”  
“Wait, who’s Romeo? What about Giovanni?” Ida asked again, confused.  
Clifford burst out laughing, “Nevermind, honey.”  
Ida pondered for a minute over her ice cream, “I wish I knew someone he could go with besides you guys. Maybe we can put an advertisement in a lonely hearts club for him?”  
Clifford stifled his laughter at the thought of that. What would the ad say, ‘Lonely vampire teen seeks human girl to go to dance with, any blood type acceptable’?  
“If only,” Clifford said, “But those are for older people, Ida, we want him to find a date at the school.”  
“Oh,” she said, nodding her head in agreement. “Okay!”  
The two ate their ice cream together in peace, shifting the conversation toward movies and whatever else struck their fancy, before going home.   
“Now remember, kiddo, this stays between us. We can’t have the whole group fretting over Giovanni finding a date,” Clifford gently reminded his adoptive sister.  
“My lips are sealed,” she said, her blue eyes lighting up.  
“‘Atta girl,” he said, giving her a high five, which she happily returned. “Let’s get inside, I got school tomorrow.”

The next day, at school, Giovanni waited for Scarlett at her locker. She’s never this late for school, he thought, what if something happened to her? No way, Scar’s a little trooper. She’d fight her way out of anything. His train of thought was interrupted by Scarlett’s voice squeaking behind him, “Excuse me, but, I’m the one that has to use this locker.”   
“Huh?” Giovanni said as he turned around, trying to pretend she didn’t scare the living daylights out of him. “Oh, Scar, it’s you!”  
“What are you doing at my locker?” she asked, suprised.   
“I was, well, you see, I was…” Giovanni panicked, before breathing in, “I was hoping you could introduce me to some of your pretty girl friends today.”  
Scarlett giggled, “Oh? Oh, right! I’m sorry, I was just anxious. I don’t know what to get Donna for Valentine’s Day and I was up all night thinking about it!”  
“We’re vampires, Scar, of course you were up all night,” Giovanni snickered, “But I get what you mean. Why don’t I help you find Donna a gift, and you can help me find a date?”  
“Alright, that would be swell!” Scarlett said, hugging the much bigger boy. “Thanks Giovanni, you’re the best!”   
“I mean if I really was the best, don’t you think I’d have a date to the dance already?” Giovanni asked.  
“You know, for a guy who’s so full of himself, you really can’t take a compliment, can you?” Scarlett said, crossing her arms in front of her.  
“Nope,” Giovanni shrugged, “Guess you’ll have to say it again.”  
The two laughed at this, before Donna tapped Scarlett on the shoulder.  
“Hey, little bat,” Donna said, “am I still picking you up for the dance?”  
“That would be nice, honey,” Scarlett said with a coy smile, “I might not be ready till 7, though.”   
“I’ll take my time,” Donna replied with a wink as she walked away.  
“Awwwh, isn’t that cute?” Giovanni said, “You two are so wonderful together.”   
“Isn’t she?” Scarlett said, dreamy-eyed.  
“I was talking about both of you, Scar,” Giovanni said, waving his hand in front of her face, “Earth to Scarlett.”  
“Oh, sorry,” Scarlett replied when she came back to her senses. “Anyway, I was telling Judy Brock about you, and she really wants to meet you. She’s on the cheerleading squad with me, and I have social studies with her. I’ll introduce her to you before second period if that works for you.”  
“Thanks, Scarlett. I owe you one,” Giovanni smiled.  
“Yes, you do,” Scarlett replied, as she turned and skipped off to her homeroom.

After homeroom and first period, Giovanni anxiously awaited Scarlett and her friend outside the social studies classroom. Why was he so nervous? She’s just a girl, it’s not like she’s Marilyn Monroe or something. He’s a biker, and a vampire too, there’s literally no reason for him to freak out and yet, here he is. He heard Scarlett’s familiar voice from down the hallway and leaned against the wall, mussing up his hair with his hand.  
“Giovanni! There you are!” she said, pulling a freckled redhead by the hand. “Giovanni, this is Judy, the girl I told you about.”  
“Hi,” Judy said shyly, avoiding eye contact.  
“Hello there, Judy,” Giovanni said, putting on the charm as much as he could, “It is very nice to meet you.”  
Judy still wasn’t making eye contact, as she said, “Nice to meet you too…”  
Giovanni looked at Scarlett and mouthed, “Is she okay?” to her, to which she shrugged.   
“Judy, Giovanni has a really cool motorcycle. Maybe he can take you out on it someti-” Scarlett began, before being cut off by Judy.  
“My cousin died in a motorcycle accident.” She said, bluntly.  
“Oh,” Giovanni said, “Judy, I am so sorry.” He and Scarlett made very nervous, wide-eyed eye contact at this revelation.   
“It’s fine,” Judy said, crossing her arms defensively, “It’s fine, really,” as she paced off into the classroom.  
“Giovanni, I am so sorry, I had no clue-” Scarlett said, “Judy doesn’t really talk much in cheer squad, there was no way for me to know.”  
“It’s okay, I can tell she doesn’t talk very much,” Giovanni said, “Maybe she ain’t the one though, it’s kinda hard to take a girl to a dance who doesn’t even wanna talk to you.”  
“Yeah, I’ll have to find someone else,” Scarlett said, “I think I’m gonna talk to Krystal, one of her friends might be single.”   
“Sounds good to me, Scar,” Giovanni said, “Shoot, if I miss one more class I’m doomed, I’ll see you later,” he said, as he bolted down the hall, hoping not to get caught by Miss Behave.

That day after school, Clifford and Lola came home to find Ida hard at work on making Valentine’s Day cards for all of her friends. There was an old, ratty tablecloth protecting the table from all of the paint and glitter Ida was getting all over it. She was hard at work, thinking of what to write on someone’s card, when Clifford peeked his head over her shoulder.   
“What’cha doing, kid?” Clifford asked, surprising Ida.  
She gasped and dramatically hunched over her work, crying out, “Don’t look! It’s a surprise!”  
“Okay, okay, I won’t,” Clifford said, putting his hands up and walking away. “There better be one for me, though.”  
“There will be!” Ida promised with a thumbs up. “You too, Lola!”   
“Thank you, hon,” Lola said, as she slumped over on the couch after her long day at school.  
“Just what are you doing, Ida?” she asked, slinging her arm over the back of the couch as she sat up a bit.  
“I can’t tell you, it’s a surprise,” she giggled, before adding, “Hey, do you know how Krystal spells her name?”  
“Um, I’m pretty sure she spells it with a K,” Lola said, “I’m not super close to her though.”  
“Thank you!” Ida said, gleefully giggling as she put the glittery finishing touches on the Valentine’s day card she was making.  
As Lola did her homework, Ida worked on her own project. Soon, the sun set and Clifford was out the door to go hunt for the night. “I’ll be back soon, don’t have too much fun without me,” he said as he waved his sisters goodbye.   
“Okay, be careful!” Lola said, “Don’t get caught!”  
“See ya!” Ida exclaimed.

That night, Scarlett called Giovanni on the phone.   
“What’s up?” he asked her.  
“Well, you know how you said you would help me find Donna a gift for Valentine’s Day?” she asked in turn.  
“Yeah,” Giovanni affirmed.  
“I found this really pretty bracelet at a jewelry store as I was walking home, but I don’t know if it’s too formal or what!” Scarlett exclaimed nervously.  
“How much was it?” Giovanni asked her.  
“I’m not sure!” she replied.  
“Alright, well, check tomorrow. If it’s over ten dollars I wouldn’t get it unless she’s going that all out for you,” he told her firmly, “I know you really like her, but unless you want to work for the next three months to make that money back I don’t think it’s worth it.”  
“And you wonder why you don’t have a date to the dance,” Scarlett sighed sarcastically.  
“You’re lucky you are a girl, Scarlett, if Cliff had said that to me we’d be rumbling by now,” Giovanni playfully replied.  
“Yeah, and he’d mop the floor with you, too.” Scarlett snickered.  
“In his dreams!” Giovanni exclaimed.  
“Whatever. Anyway,” Scarlett continued, “I also saw a teddy bear I could get her, it’s really cute and looks soft.”   
“That’s a good one! If the bracelet’s too much, just get her that,” Giovanni said, “Girls like teddy bears, right?”   
“Yes, we do, Gio,” Scarlett said, “But don’t try to bribe anyone with one.”  
“Well darn, there goes my plan,” Giovanni said, snapping his finger for emphasis. “Hey, who’s that one girl in the gardening club? Bridget something..”  
“Bridget Smart?” Scarlett asked, “Blonde, green eyes, freckles?’   
“Yeah her!” Giovanni exclaimed.   
“I don’t know, I hear she just broke up with Tommy Richards,” Scarlett said.  
“Exactly why she’ll need a date to the dance, to make Tommy jealous!” Giovanni said, “It’s the ultimate revenge, right?”  
Scarlett sighed. “She might not be looking for a relationship right now.”  
“I know, I know,” he said. “Shoot, my dad’s home. I gotta go, see you at school.”  
“Oh, okay,” Scarlett said, “Good night!”  
Scarlett wrote down in her notebook to find out how much the bracelet cost before settling for the teddy bear. She wanted nothing but the best for her Donna. 

 

Back at the shack, Ida had just finished her last Valentines Day card. “Phew…” She wiped non-existent sweat from her forehead before continuing, “After a long time of coming up with puns and remembering every person from my cousin’s high school, I am finally done!” She held the last card up in the air like a sword, striking a triumphant pose. The little vampire was so proud of herself that she hadn’t even noticed that Clifford had come home, but also brought Johnny, Giovanni, and Scarlett with him.   
“Awww, you made us cards?” Scarlett gushed, “Ida, you didn’t have to do that for us!”  
Ida’s eyes widened with shock when she heard Scarlett’s voice, as she turned around to face them. “Welp, there goes the surprise,” she sighed.  
“It’s okay, honey, it was a surprise!” Scarlett beamed, “I didn’t know you were doing this, did you guys?”  
Johnny and Giovanni shook their heads.  
“Well, I guess I might as well give you guys yours now,” Ida said, searching through her stack of cards. “Here’s yours, Giovanni!”   
She handed him a card that read, “You may not find a date, but I think you’re first rate!”  
Johnny looked over at the card and doubled over laughing, running over to hug Ida and exclaiming, “You’re the best, kid!”   
“Thanks, Johnny! Here’s yours,” Ida replied, handing him a card with a half-decent drawing of a motorcycle that said, “I ‘wheel’-y like you!”  
“Awwwh, how cute!” Johnny smiled, “Thank you, Ida.”  
“You’re welcome!” Ida replied, “Scarlett, this one took me a bit to make, I hope you like it.”  
Ida gave her a card covered in red and white glitter that read, “You always cheer me up!”  
Scarlett gave Ida a hug and said, “I’ll make sure to pick you up something later.”  
She ran over to Clifford and Lola, handing them each their cards. Clifford’s read, “To the best brother I know, happy Valentine’s Day” and Lola’s read, “I Lo-love you a lot, big sister”  
The two siblings looked at their cards and over to Ida, then at each other, jaws dropped. They weren’t prepared for something like this. Lola knelt down and hugged Ida tightly, trying not to let tears well up in her eyes, thanking Ida dearly.   
Clifford also joined the hug, saying, “Aw, shucks, Ida, these are amazing. Thank you so much.”  
“You’re welcome, Clifford,” Ida replied, “You’re the best. Anyways, I gotta deliver the rest of the cards! Don’t worry, I’ll wear a disguise!”   
“You have more cards?” Scarlett asked, “How many did you make?”   
“Enough for everyone!” Ida beamed, ecstatically.

The next day, Scarlett asked Giovanni to come with her to pick up Donna’s teddy bear.   
“Oh, I really think she’ll love it, don’t you?” she said, nearly jumping with joy.  
“Yeah, I think so,” as he held the door open for her. As they walked into the store, Scarlett noticed two brunettes similar in height looking at dresses.   
She nudged Giovanni and said, “Hey, get a look over there. They might be single. I’ve seen ‘em both around school.”  
“I dunno,” Giovanni said, “They might already have dates. Do you know them?”  
“The younger one’s Kate, the one with the specs is Marie. They’re sisters,” she said, “and they’re both single.”   
“Oh,” Giovanni smirked, “In that case, I’ll be right back.” He sauntered over to the girls, hoping to catch their eye. “Excuse me, ladies, don’t you go to Hollywood High?”  
The spectacled girl, Marie, jumped a bit, her slightly more auburn ponytail bouncing in the air. Her sister soon turned to laugh at her.  
“Kate!” the elder sister cried out, “That’s not funny!”  
“It was funny to me,” Kate shrugged, turning the other way to the source of the voice she heard, and then gasping, “Oh my gosh, Marie. It’s that guy! The ‘cool’ guy!”  
Marie’s eyes nearly bugged out of her head as she whipped her head around to look at Kate, as if to tell her to hush. “Oh, yeah, I knew I’ve seen you before somewhere. Pirozzi, right? I have a class with your brother.”  
“He’s not giving you trouble, is he?” Giovanni asked, “I can always rough him up a bit if he is.”  
“No, that’s not necessary, really,” she insisted, “You don’t have to worry about me.”  
“I wish I were as smooth as him.” Kate said blankly, staring into nothingness.   
Giovanni couldn’t help but chuckle at the compliment. “Well, doll, it’s not for a lack of trying.” With that, he winked, and Kate watched as her older sister’s pale face went a bit red. “Oooooh! Someone’s flustered, and she wasn’t even the one who was complimented!” She cooed.  
Marie retorted back, “Mind your own business, will you? You’re embarrassing me!”  
“Actually, you’re the one embarrassing you,” Kate said, sticking her tongue out playfully.  
“Ladies, please,” Giovanni said, “No need to fight, I was just going to ask if either of you had a date to the Valentine’s Day dance.”  
Marie looked down sadly, and said, “We can’t go. We have to go all the way to Arizona to visit our uncle.”   
Kate nodded, seeming just as disappointed as her sister was. “Yeah, and I was gonna ask somebody too if we were going,” she huffed.  
“Awh, I’m sorry to hear that,” Giovanni said, “But, when you get back, maybe I can take you girls out sometime?”  
Kate and Marie looked at each other, wide eyed. That came completely out of left field for them, but Kate quickly replied, “Marie and I would love to!”   
She watched as her sister’s face turned red as a beet, as she nodded silently. Kate couldn’t help but chuckle at her sister’s embarrassment, boys very rarely talked to her so it was always fun to watch her react when they did.Suddenly, a voice from behind was heard, “Hey! Kate and Marie!” Marie jumped once again, making Kate laugh some more. There stood Ida, with a bag full of what seemed to be Valentines. “Happy Valentines Day!” She handed both sisters a Valentine, then piped “Hi Gio! Hi Scarlett!”  
“Awwwh,” Marie said, smiling contentedly, “Look, Kate, she made us cards!”   
“I swear I feel like she could be my long lost sister.” Kate shuddered. She wasn’t even related to her in any way. “Thanks, by the way!”  
“Yes, thank you,” Marie piped in, “You’re such a nice girl!”  
“You’re welcome!” Ida grinned, before heading off.  
“Whoa, girl! How many Valentines to you have in that bag?” Scarlett asked as the child walked by. “Um, let’s see…” She looked into her bag, and, after a few seconds, said, “Too many for me to count. I made Valentines for everyone I know!”  
“Wait… Literally everyone?” Scarlett questioned, a worried look spreading across her face.  
“Literally everyone,” Ida repeated, “Even that taxi elf guy I heard Lola talk about at the Halloween party!”  
“We don’t even know him, though…” Scarlett said, starting to feel worried.  
“Too late, I made a card for him. I’m gonna ask Lola if she can call the cab company so they can give it to him.” she replied, grinning very proudly.   
“Oh, dear, Ida…” Scarlett said, running a hand through her dark brown hair. “Well, I suppose you’ve got other cards to give out, so I guess I’ll come with you.”  
“Okay! To the bowling alley we go!” Ida said, as she skipped along behind her friend.

Giovanni was all by himself now, since the sisters left earlier. Out of nowhere, he heard a high pitched voice call out, “Gio! Hi Gio!” He recognized that voice; Dottie Watson. “Oh no,” he quietly murmured to himself as the girl ran up to him. “How are ya doing? Aren’t you excited for Valentine’s Day? I know I am! There are so many good looking people at this school that I have too many choices for prom dates!”  
“Yup...” Giovanni grumbled quietly.  
“Wait! Do you not have a date?” Dottie piped, eyes widening.  
“Nope.”  
“Me neither!” She beamed.  
“Uh-” Giovanni tried to speak, but he was interrupted.  
“We could go to the dance together! We can dance, and eat, and dance some more, and-”  
“Actually, you know who else doesn’t have a date?” Giovanni quickly said, “Jimmy Archer. Can you believe it? A good looking, kind fella like him doesn’t have a date to the Valentine’s Day dance. I heard he’s had his eye on a girl, and from what he told me, you might be the one!”  
“Really?” Dottie gasped dramatically. “Jimmy Archer wants to go to the dance with me!”  
“Sounds like it! You should go ask him!” he said, giving her an encouraging pat on the back.   
“I will! Thanks, Gio!” she said, squealing and giggling excitedly as she ran off.  
Fully alone this time, Giovanni sighed and said, “This really is a bust, isn’t it?”

At just the right time yet again, Scarlett and Ida came walking out of the bowling alley. “I just want to get her something, y’know… Special.” Scarlett explained, “If you ever end up in love, you’ll see what I mean.”  
“Do ya think Donna’s gonna like my card?” Ida asked, “It’s special, right?”  
“Yes, I think it’s very special. I didn’t get her a card, but I wrote her a poem instead,” Scarlett said.   
“Woah, you write poems?” Ida said, “That’s cool!”  
“Thanks!” Scarlett said, “Yeah, I write sometimes.”  
Giovanni sped up to join the two girls and got to talking to them. “Wait, you wrote Donna a poem? And here I thought I was good with girls.”  
“Well, I mean it helps that I am one,” Scarlett said, “I know what other girls like.”  
“That is true,” Giovanni said, putting his hand to his chin. “So the sisters aren’t gonna be in town for the dance, just my luck, but I might have a date with them later on.”  
“Really? Which one?” Scarlett asked.  
“That’s the thing….both of them,” Giovanni said, trying to hide how proud he was.  
“Woah!” Ida piped in, “Gio’s gonna have two girlfriends!”  
“Now, I don’t know about that,” Scarlett said, “I see Kate a lot and I think she’s interested in Krystal. I don’t know how she’s gonna compete with Cathy, but she’s definitely interested in her. You’d be much better off trying with Marie.”  
“You think so?” Giovanni asked.   
“Yeah,” Scarlett nodded, “And you don’t want them to fight, do you?”  
“I mean, I haven’t seen a good girl fight in a while,” Giovanni said, before remembering Ida was there, “But fighting is bad and we shouldn’t do it.”  
“So no fights?” Ida said, “Aww, man.”

 

“This? No. How about this?” Cathy looked through all of her dresses, searching for the perfect outfit to wear to the dance. “...No. Ugh! I need to look my best while also fitting the theme!” Scanning the dresses on the closet rack, she came across a light pink dress with a slightly darker pink belt tied up in a bow in the back. “Perfect! This will make me look approachable for sure!” After dressing up and adding a tiny bit of makeup, Cathy was good to go. After telling her parents goodbye, she left the hotel and waited for Krystal’s car to roll up to the hotel doors. And soon enough, it would.   
Krystal stepped out of the car, opening her date’s door for her.   
“Oh, wow, Krystal, you don’t have to do that for me,” Cathy blushed.   
“Of course I did,” Krystal said, “You’re my best-friend-slash-date, after all.”  
Cathy giggled as she got into the car and Krystal shut the door behind her, walking over to the driver’s side.   
“You look fantastic,” Krystal said to Cathy, “Like a movie star.”   
“So do you,” Cathy said, admiring Krystal’s blue dress that brought out her eyes. “You look like a princess.”   
“I try,” Krystal shrugged as the pair drove off to the school.

The Drifters’ “This Magic Moment” played through the speakers at the school, the cafeteria decorated with pink and red heart decorations. Cathy was sitting at a table, taking a moment to watch the other students around her dance and enjoy their night. Then, Krystal stepped into view and extended her hand out to her.   
“May I have this dance?” Krystal asked.  
Cathy cautiously placed her Hand in Krystal’s and responded, “Sure. I mean… Yes.”

Krystal lead Cathy to the dance floor and the two began to dance, somewhat awkwardly. Of course Krystal lead the dance, placing one arm around Cathy’s waist and the other in Cathy’s hand, holding it. It was a very traditional stance, clearly Krystal had taken lessons. She guided Cathy’s hand to just below her shoulder blade as she giggled, “I take it you’ve never done this before?”  
“Erm, not exactly,” Cathy replied, her face turning pink to match her dress.  
“That’s okay, just follow my lead,” Krystal replied, as the two began to step in time together.  
At first, the dancing seemed easy enough. Then, Krystal began to lead them spinning around the dance floor as they stepped, like something straight out of a film. Cathy had a hard time keeping up, but didn’t mind one bit. She felt fancy. Krystal broke her grip on Cathy’s waist to spin her outwards under her arm, and the two locked eyes as Krystal reeled her back in. Krystal started to look around, an irritated look on her face.   
Cathy noticed, and asked “What’s wrong, Krys?” God, she hasn’t used that nickname in forever, but she wouldn’t pretend she didn’t miss it.  
“Look at everyone,” Krystal said, as Cathy turned her head to look at the rest of the attenders. “What about them?” Cathy asked, concern clearly showing.   
“Their eyes are supposed to be on me,” Krystal replied, “Us.”   
“Krys, we don’t need their atten-”   
Cathy was cut off right then and there by Krystal dipping her down, looking intently into her brown eyes with her own sky blue ones. A silence of several moments ensued between them, Cathy’s face turning as red as Krystal’s lipstick. Krystal looked back at the rest of the attendees, looking to see if anyone was drawn in. To her dismay, nobody was. After what felt like an eternity, Krystal pulled Cathy back up so she stood on her two feet, and they continued to waltz.   
“I thought that would’ve worked,” Krystal huffed in frustration. “We’ll get ‘em next time.”  
“Get ‘em?” Cathy cried out in confusion. “Get ‘em with what? Krystal, if we draw too much attention to ourselves we might get in some trouble.”   
“Trouble’s my middle name, Cathy,” Krystal playfully winked.  
“No, it’s Caroline,” Cathy replied, completely deadpan.  
Krystal rolled her eyes and laughed, “You’re so funny when you’re confused.”  
The pair spun and stepped around the dance floor, Krystal attempting to show off her dance skills, and her dance partner, to as many people as possible.  
Cathy sighed. “Krystal, just face it. After what you’ve done, they probably won’t give you the attention you want.”  
“Oh?” Krystal said, cocking an eyebrow, “We’ll see about that.”  
Cathy felt the urge to look at the doors to the cafeteria and make a mad dash for them. Were biker werewolves or something gonna invade the Valentines dance? Were vampires just not good enough anymore? She’s pretty sure she even saw the little brunette vampiress that bit her at this dance, this can’t be part two, can it? Cathy’s mind raced, thinking of all the awful possible outcomes, only to notice that somehow, Krystal was gone. Cathy was left alone on the dance floor. The last time Krystal had slipped away like that, everything went very, very far downhill. Just then, she saw Krystal walking towards her.   
“Oh no, Krystal, is everything okay?” Cathy asked, rushing toward her date nervously.   
“Yes, everything is fine,” Krystal replied calmly. “Don’t worry, not like anything bad is gonna happen. Well, at least not to us. Just be patient.”  
Cathy hated those words so much, coming from Krystal. Krystal led her over to a table and the two sat down to take a break from dancing.

At the same time, Giovanni was watching as couples and groups danced to the romantic music. What a way to celebrate Valentine’s Day; Alone at a dance. That’s when he spotted Dottie off to the side, doing the exact same thing he was doing: watching people dance with a forlorn, lonely expression. Giovanni thought for a moment, there she was, a single girl available to dance with, but it was Dottie, of all the girls at Hollywood High. Still though, how bad could one dance with Dottie Watson be be? Better than not having anyone at all to dance with. He walked on over to Dottie; rather, he cautiously sidestepped. They stood next to each other, silent. Dottie didn’t even seem to notice him until he piped up.  
“Hey D-” he began  
“Oh! Gio!” Scratch that. She noticed. “Isn’t this dance romantic? I don’t have anyone to dance with though, since turns out Jimmy was talking about Dana Stanton, not me,” she sighed. “I just wish I had someone to dance with. So I could feel more, y’know, special.”   
“Yeah, about that,” Giovanni began, “Would you, uh, like to dance?”   
Dottie’s eyes widened, and her face practically lit up like a Christmas tree. “Really?”   
Giovanni just awkwardly nodded in reply. Dottie squealed and dragged him over to the dance floor where they began to dance. The girl was a lot to handle with all that energy but at least she was happy, and Giovanni finally got his date to the Valentine’s Day dance. He smiled at her, realizing that maybe she wasn’t all that bad as they swayed and spun around the floor.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the room, Scarlett and Donna sat together in a corner, chatting away. Donna’s hair was pulled back in an updo and she wore a simple red dress, which was complemented by the green dress Scarlett chose to wear, having her hair curled.   
“Don, I got you something for Valentine’s Day,” Scarlett smiled, reaching into her purse. “Something besides the teddy bear.”  
“What? Baby, you didn’t have to do that for me,” Donna replied, “Now I feel guilty, all I got you was those flowers.”   
“They’re almost as beautiful as you,” Scarlett said, “Now hush.” she handed over a piece of paper with calligraphied handwriting on it.   
Donna read it over and a smile spread across her face, her eyes slightly watering. “Scar...this is the sweetest thing anyone’s ever done for me. Thank you so much.” She leaned in and gave Scarlett a kiss on the cheek.   
“Anything for my muse,” Scarlett replied, leaning her head on her girlfriend’s shoulder. They seemed to be a match made in heaven.

A few minutes passed, and the DJ took a pause from the music. He spoke up, “And now, ladies and gentlemen, this next one is a special request dedicated to, ‘My Best Second in Command’. Whoever this lovely lady is, this one goes out to you!” as he began to play Bobby Vinton’s “Blue Velvet”.  
Cathy turned to look at Krystal, jaw dropped in surprise. Krystal returned her look with that smug smirk on her face, her typical ‘What are you going to do about it’ smile. Cathy loved and hated that smile so much at the same time.

“Oh, thank god. I thought you invited biker werewolves,” Cathy sighed in relief.   
“Werewolves aren’t real, Cathy! Just something they made up for the movies,” Krystal laughed, shrugging, “Come on, we’re a bit too old to be believing in that.”   
“Explain the vampires, then!” Cathy cried out, just a bit too loudly.   
“I’m not a vampirologist, Cathy, I can’t explain them. Why don’t you go talk to them? They go here just like us, they’re pretty nice.”  
“Not what I mean, Krystal,” Cathy sighed as she placed her head in her hands.   
She felt Krystal’s hand on her back, gently rubbing a circle into it. “It’s okay, Cathy, I promised you I wasn’t going to let anything happen to you. And I won’t, okay?”   
Cathy looked up at Krystal and smiled feebly. “Okay, but you better not let Scarlett bite me again.”  
“I won’t, I promise,” Krystal said, “Everything’s good in the neighborhood.”  
A silence stood between them until Cathy broke the silence. “I missed hanging out with you when I was in San Fran.” “Of course you did.” Krystal replied in an over exaggerated snarky tone as she pulled her friend in for a side hug. Cathy laughed as she leaned against her, just happy to be reliving those simpler times before the whole vampire fiasco, even when there were vampires all around and Dottie was running around screeching about how she got a Valentines Day dance with Giovanni.   
Donna snickered behind Scarlett, amused by the sight. “Oh geez, should we stop her before she gets them in trouble?” Donna asked Scarlett.   
“Nah,” she replied, “She’ll tucker herself out soon.”  
Cathy looked at the couple, thinking. “By the way, Cathy,” Cathy looked up at Krystal, tilting her head, “Stop hiding it already.”  
Cathy blinked. “Hiding what?”  
Krystal rolled her eyes. “You know what I’m talking about.”  
“No, Krystal, I really don’t-” Cathy said, before getting cut off.   
“Catherine Sofia Moretti, you obviously have the hots for me, you big dope.” Krystal said, watching Cathy blush.  
“I….” Cathy stuttered, “Krystal, I..”  
“It’s okay, I know.” She said, smirking.

Outside the dance, Giovanni ran into some friends who had brought their motorcycles. When Ida came bounding up to him, it caught him off guard but he swiftly scooped her up.   
“And what are you doing here, young lady?” Giovanni smiled at the young vampire.  
“I came to pass out cards, ya silly goose!” Ida cheered in response.  
“Giovanni, who’s the kid?” One of the bikers piped in, a handsome biker named Dean Wilson.  
“Oh, this is Ida, she lives with some friends of mine. She got turned pretty young.” Giovanni said as he introduced Ida to him. “Ida, this is Dean, he’s one of my buddies.”  
Ida’s eyes widened in shock.“Gah! I didn’t make him a card!” She shouted before she scrambled to find something to make him a card with. “You stay right here, okay?”  
“Yeah, okay,” Dean said, as he leaned into Giovanni and asked, “What’s she doin’?”  
“She wants to make you a Valentine’s Day card,” Giovanni said, “She’s been doing it for everyone.”   
“Ain’t that cute,” he said, crossing his arms and smirking.  
“Uh, here, it’s not very good but it’s something,” Ida said, handing Dean a leaf with “Happy Valentine’s Day” written on it in marker.  
“Well, thank you very much, Ida,” Dean replied, “That was very thoughtful of ya.”  
“It was no trouble,” she said with a grin. “And now the bag is officially empty!” She clapped and did a little happy dance.  
“You know what this calls for? A moment to say the word Gio taught me!” Ida squealed, just as Lola came around the corner to see what she was up to.  
“Wha-”  
Ida ran off and did a victory pose, before shouting into the night, “Fuck yeah!”  
“Excuse me, young lady?!” Lola screamed, getting the attention of all the bikers.  
“Uh-oh,” Ida said, realizing she was in trouble now.   
“Giovanni!” Lola howled angrily, eyes blazing with fury.  
Giovanni practically ran to Dean’s bike and pulled him onto it as well, trying to convince him to get him out of there before he goes from undead to plain old dead. And so the two troublesome bikers rode off together, chuckling a bit. It may not have been a Valentine's Day for the books, but they weren't going to forget it for a while.


End file.
